


The Last Shot

by politicalmamaduck



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: All Female Knights of Ren, Alternate Universe - Ben Solo Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Arranged Marriage, Dark Side Rey, F/M, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Rey Palpatine, Slow Burn, Smuggler Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2018-12-17 13:18:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 23,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11852397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politicalmamaduck/pseuds/politicalmamaduck
Summary: The Supreme Leader wants Lady Rey, Master of the Knights of Ren, to marry Ben Solo as part of a treaty General Hux has arranged. Ben Solo had turned his back on both the Jedi life and a politician's life, and has an enormous bounty on his head from smuggling instead.





	1. The Treaty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the-reylo-void (Anysia)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anysia/gifts).



> A gift for Bri (the-reylo-void)'s birthday. <3

“You want me to marry the son of a lousy smuggler and one of our greatest enemies?”

Her voice grew louder, higher pitched in its intensity, with each syllable.

“He is a powerful Force user, the grandson of Vader, my lady, his profession and that of his father be damned. And the Resistance scum will not sign the treaty until we offer something of value.”

“If we must offer something of value,” the Master of the Knights of Ren spat, “then why are you not proposing marriage for yourself?”

She could sense the redheaded General’s irritation, and the effort he was expending to not let it show on his face.

“Because the Supreme Leader wants more of your kind. Ones with the propensity to come to our side,” he curtly replied. Lady Rey knew that General Hux did not think much of the Force, but he obeyed the Supreme Leader without question. The First Order was his life.

The Knights of Ren were hers.

Lady Rey stormed off to the Supreme Leader’s audience chambers. He would grant her an audience, or she would take her ship and leave the _Finalizer_. Rey did not concern herself with the opinions of the First Order Stormtrooper corps beyond having to deal with General Hux and Captain Phasma when required.

She planted herself in front of where his hologram would appear, and glowered up at him when it did.

“How _dare_ you--” she started, but the Supreme Leader cut her off.

“Am I not your master?” he asked. “I brought you out of nothing and taught you everything you know.”

“Yes, Master,” she replied, lowering her proud head just a shade. “But to force me to marry? And _breed_ with a spawn such as Ben Solo?” She practically spat out the word _breed_ and her intended’s name.

“He is the grandson of Darth Vader,” Snoke said. “And immensely powerful in the Force. If he could be turned, he would be a powerful ally. His grandfather’s fall to the Dark Side could be attributed to an excess of passion. Perhaps the grandson will be the same. And if he does not turn, you will have children with a proclivity for the Dark.”

“But what of my own desires?” Rey could see the benefits of aligning her own powerful bloodline with the smuggler’s, but she did not particularly care to be yoked to him for eternity.

“Have you yet found a suitable mate?” Snoke asked, peering down at her. “Not to mention, he will be agreeable to this union. Not just for his mother’s sake, but there is a substantial bounty on his head. You will either marry him, or collect the bounty. Either way, we profit, though I would prefer you to breed with the grandson of Vader and produce powerful, Force sensitive children. You are dismissed.” 

Rey stormed off to her chambers to think--and to plot.

The New Republic Senate had erupted in outrage when Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker’s natural father’s identity was revealed.

The Supreme Leader, however, had seen it differently, and had been looking for every opportunity to convert Vader’s grandson to his cause.

To his great chagrin, the young man who had such potential in the Force had not only refused his uncle’s teachings after the incident, but had foregone a promising career with his mother’s Senate to follow his father’s footsteps and operate a small crew of ships. 

Han Solo’s brilliance shone through in his son: the bounty on Ben Solo’s head was second only to the one on his father’s. Rey did not realize just how large the bounty truly was. She would be a tremendously rich woman if the alliance with the Resistance fell through.

He was not bad looking, for a Skywalker--he looked more like his dark-haired father and mother than his fair uncle, though all three had run to grey from their glory days of rebellion.

She perused the HoloNet’s latest search results on the nefarious smuggler, and decided she would go along with the Supreme Leader’s idea and Hux’s treaty. Until it no longer suited her, at which point she would take any theoretical offspring from the union as her own and sell her husband to the Hutts if she wanted.


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Resistance and the First Order come together to negotiate, and Rey meets her betrothed for the first time.

Rey dressed in a very becoming black dress and cloak for her meeting with the smuggler. Her lightsaber was prominently displayed on her belt, which accentuated her slim figure. She was the Master of the Knights of Ren, and she would be respected as such.

The Resistance could be damned; they did not interest her. She did not deign to pay attention to Hux’s droning on during the negotiations and instead studied her enemies.

General Organa looked exhausted, though every inch the domineering former princess, sitting with regal straight-backed posture at the head of the table. She was a woman accustomed to getting her own way, Rey could tell. To her right sat the famed Admiral Ackbar, also looking aged from his heyday in the Rebellion, and to the general’s left was the smuggler she would marry.

He was handsome, she would have to confess, though not in any traditional way. He had inherited his parents’ dark hair and eyes, and had towered over his mother at their entrance. He was well built, solidly sturdy, and she could feel a crackling Force presence under the surface. There was more to Ben Solo than met the eye, she could tell, and she knew she would be walking a difficult line if this continued to go forward--both with him and with her master.

Not wanting to let her eyes linger on her betrothed too long, lest she give the wrong impression, she next turned her attention to the pilot on Ben Solo’s other side. Commander Poe Dameron was the posterchild for the Resistance, and with good reason--he was handsome in every conventional way that Ben Solo was not. He was not smiling at this particular juncture, however, unlike the Resistance propaganda posters. He worried at his lower lip, and pushed his dark curls off his forehead every few moments. In contrast, Ben Solo sat motionless and expressionless.

On her own side, she had not requested that her Knights of Ren join the meeting; Hux would have opposed it, and Snoke would not have allowed it. They stood guard outside her quarters, however, and menaced Resistance members in the common areas. She sat to Hux’s left, and Captain Phasma to his right.

She studied the various other Resistance personnel, not particularly impressed by any of them, and shot glares at her compatriots when they looked at her too long. She envied Phasma’s helmet, and wished that she could have worn her own. She could have taken a nap through the interminable negotiations.

When General Organa announced they would adjourn for the day, Rey nearly leapt from her seat and stalked around the table to where Ben Solo still sat. Grabbing him by the arm, she looked into his eyes with every force she could muster, and said “We need to talk.”

He nodded, and got up from the table.

“Ben, are you sure--” Poe Dameron started to say, but Rey whirled around and glared at him. He looked taken aback at the intensity of her stare, and before she could speak, Ben did.

“It’s alright, Poe. We do need to talk.” He offered Rey his arm, and she took it, continuing to glare at the impudent pilot.

As soon as they were safely ensconced in the next conference room over, Rey turned to the smuggler and grabbed her arm away from him. She spoke before he scarcely had a chance to react.  

“You will marry me, and I will make sure you live, or I will sell your bounty to the Hutts. They are desperate to have the son of Han Solo back in their clutches, I know. I think Jabba the Hutt, so cleverly dispatched by your mother, left a particularly despicable nephew who holds a grudge. It’s your choice, though I think that marriage to me is the superior option from your position. I’d rather sell you into slavery on Tatooine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my thanks to my dear friend Jen/larirenshadow for providing me with inspiration for this fic and for betaing!


	3. The Bounty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey have a frank discussion.

Ben Solo had never been a particularly calm individual.

The persistent migraines he had seemingly from the time of his birth left him often irritated and prone to outbursts as a child, and he had inherited a legendary temper from both his parents.

But neither was he easily surprised or caught off guard; his itinerant upbringing had taught him to be prepared for anything. From his mother’s diplomatic attempts to bring social justice and democracy to each of the galaxy’s far flung worlds, to his father’s less than typical business dealings, to his uncle’s search for Jedi artifacts and lore, Ben Solo had practically grown up out of a travel pack and with a target on his back.

His public disavowal of both his mother’s and uncle’s legacies at the age of twenty-three had left him standing on the precipice of the Dark.

After he had conquered that particular demon, learning that his migraines and the unceasing whispers in his head were the product of forces beyond his control, he had repaired his fractured relationship with the father with whom he had never quite gotten along. They had developed a business relationship that suited them both, and allowed them both the freedom they desired.

Ben could never really leave any of his family behind, however, and that left him in the predicament he was in now.

He had fought the dark side his entire life, and now he was supposed to marry its scion’s protegee.

The anger rolled off of her in waves, but it was a practiced anger.

 _Snoke taught you well_ , he thought, looking down at the woman who had just threatened to sell him to the Hutts, his family’s enemy for four generations.

 _Is this what I would have become?_ He had asked himself when he saw Lady Rey and her Knights of Ren thundering into the neutral conference center that had been chosen for their parley.

Snoke had not bothered him in six years.

Now he knew why.

He took a deep breath to center himself, like his uncle had taught him.

It was time to fraternize with the enemy.

By the Force, she was beautiful, even though he knew her beauty was yet another weapon she would try to use against him.

He knew Snoke had plucked her out of obscurity on Jakku, the galaxy’s graveyard of junk. Rumors held that she was the granddaughter or daughter of various formerly prominent Imperial officers--or even Emperor Palpatine himself. Regardless of her parentage, she had quickly risen from obscurity to become the face of the First Order, or more so her cloaked and helmeted visage struck terror into the hearts of many.

She was slim, though he knew every inch of her was corded with muscle. _If only Uncle Luke_ _had found her first_ , he found himself thinking.

That wouldn’t help him now.

“I’d much rather marry you than face the Hutts, yes,” he started, carefully choosing his words. “You would become a very rich woman indeed if things don’t go well between us,” he continued, trying to smile and flatter the very angry young woman in front of him.

It didn’t work. She continued to glare up at him.

“I won’t get in your way, if you won’t get in mine,” he finished, hoping to salvage the attempt at conversation when Rey continued to stay silent and fume at him.

“How did you get such a large bounty on your head, anyway?” she asked, finally withdrawing her heated gaze.

“The Hutts were dealing in arms munitions,” he began, thinking it would be better to tell her the truth rather than risk her wrath and potentially ruin his mother’s treaty. “They were going to make a power play on Tatooine and Ord Mantell. I intercepted their primary weapons shipment and diverted several others. Needless to say, they weren’t pleased. Add in my family history, and there you have it,” he finished, shrugging his shoulders.

There had been a bit more to it than that, but he had told her most of the truth. She didn’t need to know the rest. Particularly that the Resistance had been the beneficiary of the intercepted weapons shipments.

“I see,” she said, narrowing her gaze once more. “I’m sure you don’t want to be a slave to Hutt spawn. Do as I say, and we’ll make this easy.”

“Certainly,” Ben said, gesturing to follow her out of the room. He didn’t mention that her definition of ‘easy’ was probably drastically different from his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my thanks to Jen/larirenshadow for her beta work.


	4. The Bargain

Rey left Ben behind and turned down the hallway back towards the First Order’s block of rooms without sparing a second glance at him or offering a goodbye.

He sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and turned the opposite direction down the hallway to his own suite. It was unlikely that he’d get any rest that night. He knew despite his mother’s exhaustion, she was unlikely to sleep either.

The truce had been a long time coming--far too long. After the destruction of the Hosnian system, then the subsequent destruction of Starkiller Base, the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance had finally gained galactic attention. What remained of the New Republic finally authorized and furnished a declaration of war.

The peaceful world of Chandrila had been under near constant siege since then, as the New Republic’s temporary headquarters. Coruscant was technically neutral, as the home of the Senate since the destruction of the Hosnian system, but its citizens would not be held under the yoke of the remnants of the Empire. They had suffered enough under Palpatine.

Ben tossed and turned that night, remembering and thinking through everything that had happened to bring them to this point.

Poe and Finn still bore scars, both physical and mental, from their respective capture and servitude under the First Order.

There was a gaping hole in the galaxy where the Hosnian system used to be.

Ben hadn’t touched his lightsaber in far too long.

He slept fitfully, his dreams filled with smoke and ash and a woman with a red lightsaber. Morning dawned far too soon for his liking.

While each side’s respective generals met to hash out the details of disarmament and troop reductions, Ben would have breakfast with Rey.

Neither was particularly thrilled about the possibility that they would be alone together for hours.

Both piled their plates high with food. Ben noted Rey’s appetite despite her lithe frame and wondered about the extensive amount of training she must do. He chose not to comment upon it, or ask; he knew he would find out soon enough about the daily routines of the Master of the Knights of Ren. That was, if she didn’t kill him or turn him over to the Hutts first. He certainly wasn’t about to just do as she said, as she had demanded the day before.

“What exactly does Snoke want out of this?” he asked, finally deciding to open negotiations. He was his mother’s son, after all, and grandson by blood and adoption to two legendary senators--Padme Amidala and Bail Organa.

“You dare refer to the Supreme Leader so casually?” she retorted, her eyes flashing and her chin upturned.

He laughed. “You think he hasn’t been after my family my whole life?”

“Your family seems to have made many enemies across the galaxy,” she countered. “I wonder why?” Her eyes flashed. Ben refrained from commenting how her sarcasm would fit right in with the Skywalker-Solo clan.

“Why would your Supreme Leader want you to marry an enemy, then?” He retorted, unwilling to give in.

Rey did not hesitate this time. “He wants us to breed.”

“Of course he does,” Ben muttered.

Running his hands through his hair, he turned away from her and asked a question he dreaded knowing the answer to.

“How old are you, anyway?”

She glared at him before answering. “Nineteen.”

_Kriff._

Firstly, she was so young. Secondly, Snoke had stopped whispering to Ben six years ago. Doing some quick math in his head, that was around the time he knew Snoke had “discovered” his new protegee.

He covered his eyes with his hand, and tried not to project outwardly into the Force with Rey so near.   He had always known that Snoke hadn’t left him alone after he abandoned the Jedi academy and the Senate so publicly just for those reasons.

The proof of it was standing before him, glaring at him as usual.

 _Oh Force_ , _what have I done_? he asked himself.

He chose instead to ask her, “What exactly do you want out of this? Besides selling my bounty to the Hutts, of course.”

The question seemed to take the surly yet unflappable Rey by surprise. Her answer was not as biting as it could have been.

“I seek a powerful ally. I would try to turn you to our side.”

“Okay, so how about this?” Ben suggested. “Let’s help each other on neutral missions. Call our own truce. You would be an asset to my crew, I could use an enforcer. And I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having a dedicated pilot who can use the Force to get you out of tight scrapes, right? I won’t interfere with your Knights of Ren, and you won’t sell me out to the Hutts. Deal?”

He extended his hand to her, hoping she’d take it and shake on his hastily created bargain with too many loopholes he knew they’d both try to exploit.

Her brows furrowed for a moment, and then she looked up at him, her eyes becoming warm for just a moment.

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, huge thanks to Larirenshadow for her beta work and discussing this AU with me! You should definitely check out her modern AU fics Puppies and How Our Song Goes.


	5. The Discovery

Rey had never been asked what she wanted before. The smuggler’s question had been unexpected, yet welcome. It got her to thinking. 

What did she want?

The Supreme Leader wanted this treaty. The Supreme Leader wanted her to marry the smuggler, to try to turn him to their side. The Supreme Leader wanted her to produce Force-sensitive offspring. 

Since he had saved her from scavenging on Jakku, Rey had always done the Supreme Leader’s will. The Supreme Leader never asked what she wanted; he merely commanded her to take her Knights of Ren and do his bidding. 

Rey wanted to explore the galaxy, to find ancient relics from the history of the Force, both Jedi and Sith. Rey wanted to learn new languages, to pilot new ships. She had loved practicing with her simulators on Jakku, and she was able to pick up Teedospeak very easily, but neither was quite the same. She wanted to see the forests of Endor, and the deserts of Tatooine, and discover which tongue her parents might have used. 

She decided all of this in the minutes after her husband to be extended his hand to her. She would use him to achieve these goals. Certainly, he was well traveled, and she knew he spoke several languages. 

She sat for several minutes, meditating to make sure her feelings on the matter were clear. Seeking to travel the galaxy with the smuggler would not be against the Supreme Leader’s express wishes; they would have to cohabitate in order to produce offspring, certainly. They had not communicated much beyond pleasantries and negotiating their recently struck bargain of cooperation. 

Rey left her assigned quarters with a renewed focus, and sent a message that she would like to meet with the smuggler again. She hoped that it would not raise any eyebrows after their extended meeting that morning. 

 

* * *

Ben had left his meeting with Rey rather pleased with himself. At least he didn’t have the bounty to worry about--for the time being. He knew that Rey’s temper would be as nasty as his own if something were to go wrong. 

He headed to a training room, and set up a punching dummy. It would not behoove him to become lazy during this conference. He needed to still be on his guard, even if the situation between the Resistance and the First Order--and him and Rey-- had improved. 

He worked himself into a good rhythm with the punching, adding in some ducking and kicking. After he felt satisfied with his warm up, he moved to the weight rack, stretching his arms and legs as he went. 

He was working up a nice sweat when his comlink sounded. It was the sound of a high-level Resistance code. Sighing, he returned his dumbbell to the rack and answered his comlink. 

“The Lady Rey has requested a meeting with you,” Lieutenant Ko Connix said.

“Did she set a time?” he asked, wiping his brow with the bottom of his shirt. 

“She did not,” Kaydel replied.

“Reply to her asking if the conference room in an hour would suffice. And tell her we will exchange comlink codes so that we can communicate without an intermediary from now on.”

“Yes, sir,” said Kaydel, and the transmission ended. 

Ben gathered his things and headed to the ‘fresher for a shower--and to plan. He chose to believe that an unexpected meeting with his fiancee was a good sign. He hoped it was a good sign. 

Rey arrived in the main conference room before Ben did. She paced back and forth, waiting only a few minutes before he arrived. 

“To what do I owe the honor of an unexpected meeting?” he asked, inclining his head to her and sitting down at the conference table, across the room from her. 

Even in an empty room meant for ten times the number of people, her betrothed seemed to dominate the space. Even the chair in which he sat seemed too small for him. Rey had not considered his sheer physical strength to much degree before. His Force potential was enormously powerful, and yet the life of a smuggler seemed to suit him. 

She would not allow herself to be distracted from her focus, however. There would be another time to negotiate the physical aspect of their relationship in order to beget children. 

“I was thinking about our bargain,” she began, standing straight and firmly. She would not allow herself to relax and seem weak. 

He nodded, waiting for her to continue.

“You asked me what I wanted. In accordance with our agreement, I would like to travel on as many of your missions as possible. I would like to see more of the wider galaxy, and have more opportunities to pilot my own craft and to learn the galaxy’s languages.”

His nodding along with her words stopped when she stopped speaking. 

“That’s all you wanted to add?” he asked, and then cringed at how quickly he had spoken without thinking. 

“Yes,” she said, taking a step towards the conference table. “I can speak Basic, and Teedospeak, and understand Binary and Shryiiwook. But even though I am the Master of the Knights of Ren, I am not at liberty to command my own ship and choose our missions. I am still the Supreme Leader’s apprentice. I would like to honor my grandfather’s legacy and learn more about the wider galaxy, and learn to speak his native tongue. Just as you seek to honor your family’s legacy, tarnished as it is.”

Ben shook his head, cupping his chin in his hands and leaning on the table. 

“So those rumors are true? You’re old Palpatine’s granddaughter. Dear Force, and they left you on Jakku for all those years? I can’t say I blame you wanting to get the hell off that dustball, knowing about your famous grandfather or not. And how could you possibly have any brain power left to learn anything with Snoke beating at your head all the time? I’m amazed you’ve lasted this long without lashing out at him.”

Rey’s eyes flashed, and Ben knew he had gone way too far. Her brow furrowed, and she leaned forward onto the table, gripping it with white knuckles.

“What do you mean, Snoke beating at your head all the time?” She practically growled his words back at him, through clenched teeth. She had removed her hands from the table to clench her fists at her sides, and she was practically vibrating with anger. 

“He doesn’t do that to you?” Ben asked, hoping to put Rey back on the defensive and evaporate some of her anger. 

She looked at him, quizzically at first, and then it turned right back into roiling fire in her eyes. 

“You say this like you know of it personally,” she said, brows furrowing once more and her shoulders leaning in towards the table and Ben across from her. 

He decided honesty would have to be the best policy at this particular moment.

“Snoke started whispering to me before I was born. My mother felt a dark presence reaching for me while I was still in her womb. I’ve had terrible migraines all my life as a result of Snoke beating against my mental shields, trying to sway me to the dark. He nearly won, after the entire galaxy found out about my grandfather. I left my uncle and flew to Tatooine, went out into the desert. Simmered with rage for a long time. My family came for me, luckily enough, before I went ahead and did anything stupid. I told my mother and my uncle I wouldn’t be returning to the public eye at their sides for a long time. My dad and I had it out; we had never gotten on too well, he didn’t trust the Force the way my mother did. But we came to an understanding, and that’s when I decided to join another family business. Just not the family business any of them had planned for me.”

He finished, and held his hands up to her in a gesture of surrender. 

“So he left you alone after that?” she scoffed, raising her eyebrows once more.

“I had thought so,” Ben said. “But I realized earlier that’s around the time he found you out on Jakku.” 

“So you think he gave up on you because he found me,” she stated, not looking at Ben but rather, up at the room’s ceiling. 

“I think so, yes,” he said, as gently as he could. 

The water pitcher and glasses that were sitting on the sideboard behind Rey shattered.

Ben flinched, and didn’t say anything for a long moment. 

The room was eerily quiet save for the sounds of Ben and Rey’s breathing. 

“I’ll call for a droid to clean that up,” he ventured, and grabbed the room’s remote control. 

Rey did not respond. Her left hand covered her eyes, while her right arm crossed her chest. He could tell her eyes were closed and that she was attempting to control her breathing.    


“Puc ensenyar-te Nubian,” he said, offering it as a truce between them.

“You speak the language of the Naboo?” she asked, her eyes opening and growing wide as she removed her hand from her face.

“I speak Nubian, Corellian, Alderaanian, Shryiiwook, bits of Jawaese and Ewok, and Binary,” he replied. “They’re a bit more useful than Teedospeak,” he continued, hoping that maybe she’d flash a smile. 

She nodded, even though her posture indicated her still volatile emotions. 

Ben decided to try again. “How about we train together tomorrow, before lunch and the afternoon session? I’m sure your side will be pleased we’re making an effort to get to know one another so that we can, you know, breed, as you put it.”

She sighed. 

“I’ll see you at 0900 hours in training room B100A, okay?” he asked.

“That’s fine,” Rey replied with the notes of finality in her voice. 

Ben left the conference room as the cleaner droid arrived. He turned back to see Rey slumped in a chair, her head in her hands once more.


	6. The Duel

Ben spent another restless night tossing and turning in his hotel bed. He practiced meditation and hoped that the pain behind his eyes had not been triggered by his mention of Snoke’s torment for most of his life. 

He realized after breakfast as he headed to the training room he had reserved that he and Rey had not exchanged comlink codes like he had wanted. Sighing, and pulling his hair back into a low ponytail, he began to stretch his arms. 

Ben was running through a series of exercises in agility, dodging projectiles and several training droids when suddenly, they all shut off and everything fell to the floor around him. 

He turned to the room’s entrance to see Rey, her lightsaber blazing in her right hand and her eyes dark. 

He could only stare at her for a few moments; she was a vision out of a daydream or a nightmare. 

“You said you wanted to train together,” she said, stepping closer to him and more fully into the room. “Let’s train,” she added, moving into dueling position.    


“I don’t---” he started, then stopped. “I’m not a Jedi,” he said, gesturing at her saber. 

“I know,” she said, circling him. Her gaze was predatory. Her shoulders were tense, however, and the dark circles under her eyes indicated she’d had just as restless a night as he. 

He took a deep breath, and found his center like his uncle Luke had taught him. He was glad he had brought his lightsaber with him to the training room, even though he hadn’t intended to use it.

He hadn’t used it in a very long time. 

“Well?” she asked. 

He nodded, and called his blade to him. It snapped into life as soon as it touched his hand, and their fight began. 

Ben was rusty, and Rey was vicious. But he was taller and stronger than her, and had trained for longer than her. 

Her strikes were ferocious, but he knew she would eventually tire from landing such powerful blows. Each time her red saber met his blue, he held it in place and watched her, knowing to force her to extract her blade from his own would require more energy. 

The training room was cast in shadows and light as the ex-Jedi and Knight of Ren danced their deadly tango. Red and blue and purple melded together in the dimly lit room, and Ben gave himself fully to the Force. It was a dance, it was a song, it was a duel with the woman with whom he would presumably spend the rest of his life. 

The Force called to him, and sang to him, and buoyed him with its grace. 

It had been over six years since he had allowed himself to feel it so fully. Though his eyes were open throughout the duration of their duel, he felt as though he wasn’t seeing Rey and their blades at all. He saw air and movement, felt whispers and wind. 

Rey snarled at him, frustrated by his parrying of her blows, and it took him out of the moment. 

While training at his uncle’s academy, Ben had always been drawn to the Niman form of lightsaber combat. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as Djem So, the form of his grandfather and uncle, but he loved the way it allowed for the user to guard with and also create Force attacks. Creativity had always been his forte.

Rey was off balance from her latest blow, and he switched his lightsaber to his left hand and stretched out his right to Force push her back onto the training mat on the floor. 

He exhaled with a sigh, and shut off his saber. He walked over to her, and offered her a hand up. 

“Good match,” he said. 

She glared at him in response, and pulled her hand away from his as soon as she was up on her feet. She flexed it as if his touch had burned her. 

“You won’t win next time,” she retorted. 

“Do you plan for us to duel often?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “There are other things we could do too, you know.”

Her brows furrowed even further, and her chin jutted at him.

“We’ll see about that,” she said, and stomped out of the training room. 

After the door closed behind her, Ben Solo allowed himself to laugh and pulled his now sweaty hair out of its band. 

He had a mission with his fiancee to plan.

But first, they’d have to finish negotiating the treaty and get it signed. And presumably they’d want Rey and him to be married before letting them leave together. 

Ben left the training room and headed back to his suite to shower and to plan. 

His mother and the Resistance needed him, and he was not going to let them down. He had already let them down too many times. 

He didn’t want to let Rey down, either. He had already done that, it seemed. He only hoped he could make it up to her--and get Snoke out of her head. 


	7. The Negotiations

Rey had been furious after the smuggler let slip his history, if she could call it that, with her Master.

She was strong, and she was powerful, and she was unfailingly loyal. Yet she had not been the Supreme Leader’s first choice in apprentice, and it rankled her more than it should have. Hux and Phasma had been with the First Order far longer than she had, and it did not bother her at all that they were given their due as officers.

Yet her betrothed had given up on his Jedi training to play at smuggling with his lackadaisical father.

She knew he had been even more powerful in the Force than his famed uncle. Everyone had said so.

She learned it for herself that morning. She had wanted to vent her frustrations on him in their sparring session, to show him that she was to be feared and respected as her position required.

Her plan had not worked, however. She had not expected him to recall his uncle’s lessons so easily. Rey would never underestimate Ben Solo again.

He irritated her. To have that much power at his disposal, and to throw it all away? He had not used his lightsaber in years, he told her. Now that she had her own powerful weapon at her side, she could not imagine putting it aside for a blaster.

If he thought he could beat her so easily, then she had many more tricks hidden in her cloak. He was arrogant, to be sure, and she would show him that he had to earn her respect. She not even begun to scrape the depths of the well of her power, the Supreme Leader had told her. Her raw strength in the Force was nigh unmatched. Save for the man she was to marry.

Rey did not trust easily, and she was not about to begin with a lowborn smuggler. Even if he could speak her family’s ancestral language, which she desperately wanted to learn. He had slipped into it effortlessly the day before after she had accidentally shattered the water pitcher in the conference room.

A humanoid droid walking down the hallway opposite her suddenly bumped her with its arm. She howled, even though it didn’t hurt that badly, and sliced it in half with her lightsaber. She needed to freshen up and head to the afternoon negotiation sessions. Everyone’s presence was required, including her wayward fiance’s.

She needed to meditate, to find a better outlet for her anger than hapless, clumsy droids. She needed to develop a plan to turn the situation to her advantage.

She would certainly have to accede to the terms of their personal agreement, as well as the formal treaty, for a length of time. Rey could be patient. She would learn what she needed and wanted to learn, and she would get what she wanted.

And then they could all be damned.

She was done with being the second choice. She had not been consulted about her position in this treaty; she was not privy to the negotiations that Hux was leading. She, in fact, would not have chosen self-serving Armitage to lead the negotiations in the first place. Grand Admiral Sloane would have been vastly preferable.

Rey cared nothing for the First Order’s internal politics; she had seen all the petty bickering between the non-Force sensitives as beneath her. She vastly preferred seeking out Dark Side relics with her Knights of Ren.

And hopefully, even though she would be aiding the smuggler on some of his jobs, she could continue to do some of that as well.

She let her hair out of her buns as she headed into the ‘fresher, and stretched her arms behind her back. She had a meeting to get ready for, and she did not want to disappoint.

* * *

Rey wore a daringly low cut jumpsuit under an armor weave cape to the negotiations. Her lightsaber was prominently displayed at her waist, and she had accentuated her eyes with some cosmetics. It was not something with which she normally bothered, but she wanted to emphasize who she was and from where she had come. She wore a shining circlet about her head; it was from Naboo. _Let them whisper about Palpatine’s granddaughter_ , she thought.

She entered the very conference room where she and Ben had met the day before, and as she had wanted, many heads turned or rose from their datapads to look at her as she entered. She sat to Hux’s left, across from Phasma, at the end of the table farther from the door. Across the table at the other end was General Organa; to her left, Rey’s fiance. He would have a good view of her, and she tried not to smirk at the thought.

“The treaty negotiations have largely concluded,” Mon Mothma began after everyone had arrived and settled in their seats. “What remains is the date and location of the marriage alliance. After we have settled on those details, we shall sign the treaty provisionally today. After the wedding, we will have a formal signature ceremony on a neutral location to be broadcast live on the HoloNet, as agreed yesterday. Does everyone understand?”

Rey tried not to look startled at the mention of her impending wedding; she could tell Ben was doing the same.

There were nods and murmurs of assent around the table.

“Very well,” said the Chandrilan senator. Rey tried not to glare at her. She couldn’t understand how one woman had been at the center of galactic politics for so long.

_Your grandfather controlled the galaxy for over thirty years_ , a voice said at the back of Rey’s mind.

Whose voice it was, Rey could not tell, and she suppressed a chill down her spine.

Rey searched her feelings, and tried to find her center once more. She decided to try to focus on her anger regarding the New Republic’s politicians. They had never done anything for Jakku; at least her grandfather had taken an interest and tried to build the Imperial presence on the planet.

She pulled herself back into the meeting, where Hux was arguing with one of the Resistance generals regarding where the wedding should be held. She restrained herself from rolling her eyes at him, and turned her attention to the opposite end of the table.

She briefly caught her fiance’s gaze, and he winked and smirked at her.

Trying not to look too taken aback and startled, she reached for the water glass in front of her and was about to take a sip just as General Organa finally spoke, interrupting Hux.

“Why don’t we ask our bride and groom what they think? It is their wedding we are discussing.”

Rey took her sip of water, watching the general. The general, much like her son, did not blink or shrink under her gaze. Rey then turned her attention to her fiance, waiting for him to speak.

“What about Naboo?” he finally said, looking at his mother. “Both the Lady Rey and I share grandparents who were from Naboo, and it would serve as a stunning backdrop to the celebration.”

The table was silent for a moment. Even garrulous Hux didn’t seem to have any complaints about the smuggler’s suggestion, at least not at that moment.

When no one said anything after the space of a few breaths, Ben looked at Rey once more.

“Would you like that, Rey?” he asked, and she found herself wanting to smile for the first time since Hux had told her she was to marry the smuggler.

Hux was glaring, but looking back and forth between them as if he didn’t know who was irritating him more or how to oppose the proposition before Rey could answer. She could tell Phasma was bored out of her mind underneath her shining helmet.

“I would like that very much,” she replied, finally giving in and glaring back at Hux after she nodded at the Resistance contingent.

“Very well then,” said Mon Mothma. “Naboo it shall be. What about an officiant? Do the bride and groom have any preferences?”

At that, Hux finally lost it.

“The First Order will not recognize a Republic judicial official,” he spat. “One of our military officers will have to preside.”

“Then what’s the point of having a wedding at all to symbolize unity, if you won’t recognize our legal system?” Poe Dameron spoke up, running his hands through his hair.

Rey noted that the men of the Resistance seemed to run their hands through their hair quite a bit when they were frustrated or anxious. It was highly undisciplined, and a tell that would have required sanctions for unnecessary contact or affect in the First Order, and worse if leave had not been given to remove a helmet in the first place.

“Were you given leave to speak for the Resistance?” Hux retorted.   

Ben had covered his eyes with his hand, and General Organa looked downcast, her eyes on her datapad as if it held the answers she needed.

“Since the wedding is to take place on Naboo, diplomacy would seem to require someone from the planet should officiate the wedding, or at least protocol would seem to dictate that result,” the Resistance’s protocol droid piped up. The droid seemed the type at which normally everyone would rule their eyes as it unfailingly obeyed its programming, but the Resistance visibly perked up at the droid’s suggestion.

“C-3PO makes an excellent point,” General Organa said. “Would the First Order object to someone unaffiliated with the Republic judiciary, but a former Imperial senator?”

“Whom do you have in mind?” Hux asked slowly, narrowing his eyes at his counterpart.

“Former Senator Pooja Naberrie. She’s also my first cousin,” the General added. “She chose not to return to the Senate after it had been dissolved under the Emperor and reformed in the Republic. I’m not sure about Nubian laws regarding wedding officiants, but I’m sure we can discuss that with the Queen when we begin the formal wedding discussions.”

Mon Mothma nodded at General Organa’s words, and looked to General Hux for a response.

Phasma beat him to it.

“The First Order has many connections with Naboo,” she said, the acoustics of the room making her voice sound even more powerful through her helmet. “Emperor Palpatine was ever proud of his home planet. This woman seems neutral enough to suffice. Make ready the arrangements, and the First Order will be there.”

At that, she stood up, sweeping her cape around her, and left the room.

“Well I guess that settles it,” Ben said, shrugging at his mother and Mon Mothma, and completely ignoring the consternation present on Hux’s face.

“That will conclude our negotiations,” the Chandrilan senator said, “pending approval from the Naboo government. We will contact the Queen tomorrow.”

Rey nodded at her, and then hurriedly left the room, pointedly not looking at Hux.


	8. The Time in Between

Rey could not wait to be far away from all the politicians and Resistance officials and left to her own devices, but the smuggler caught up to her as she was hurrying down the hallway to the turbolift up to her quarters.

“Rey, wait a moment, if you would.” He caught her arm, and Rey inwardly cursed his long legs. She was a tall woman, but he was still a head taller than her yet. She looked up at him, and gave him a glare filled with boredom and annoyance.

“I was wondering if you’d like to meet on Naboo early, to start discussing our married life. And we agreed to go on a mission together afterwards.”

“Yes, that’s fine,” Rey replied. It would get her away from Hux, at the very least. And she did want to see Naboo before she had to marry the smuggler and they would be expected to serve on some post-unity tour or other Republic nonsense.

“Now, about our comlink codes. I meant to get yours the other night. We’ll need to communicate without an intermediary, and if you wanted to practice learning Nubian, I’d be happy to.”

“That’s fine too,” Rey said, getting out her comlink. “I want to return to a regular training schedule ahead of the wedding; I’m sure I won’t be sent on any missions with my Knights in the meantime.”

Ben nodded, and they exchanged their codes.

It seemed to be a moment of finality for Rey; her fiance being able to contact her at any time made their impending nuptials finally seem real. There was no going back now; she was going to spend the immediate future with this man, whether she wanted to or not.

 _At least the wedding will be on Naboo_ , she thought. She knew her grandfather had no grave; his remains had been scattered to the stars above Endor. But still, she could pay her respects to both him and her parents, who had served there briefly before their assignment on Jakku.

She still knew very little about her own family history. She could see General Organa watching her and the smuggler from a safe distance, and the look of love and worry on her face cut Rey to the quick.

She stifled it under a mound of anger. She wanted to destroy another droid. That would serve to erase her brief moment of compassion.

“Well then?” she asked, looking up from her comlink to the smuggler once more.

“I guess I’ll see you next month,” he said, awkwardly shrugging and shoving his hands in his pockets. “A week before the wedding?”

“Very well,” Rey said, and turned away from him, heading back down the hallway towards the turbolift.

“Rey?” he asked again, and she rolled her eyes before turning around once more.

“May the Force be with you,” he said, then turned in the opposite direction. He offered his arm to his mother, and they headed down the hallway to their own side together.

The room service datapad in her suite was the next sacrifice to Rey’s rage as she howled alone in her quarters. She ignited her lightsaber and went through her forms, imagining shadows that she destroyed one by one.

On the other side of the hotel complex, Ben Solo and Leia Organa felt a wave of anguish and rage in the Force that could not be denied.

Ben sighed.

Leia gently placed her hands over his and squeezed.

“I hope I know what I’m doing,” he muttered.

“You do,” Leia said, with a sad smile.

 

* * *

 

The weeks between the end of the treaty conference and the wedding seemed to fly by. Rey returned to the _Finalizer_ , avoiding Hux and the Supreme Leader. Phasma she saw only occasionally, usually when the captain was patrolling during early morning rounds. Rey devoted herself to her training with a new vengeance. She wanted to be prepared for anything that could happen when she began traveling with the smuggler. She would not let the First Order down, even though the peace conference’s events had left her irritated and unsure of where the Force was leading her.

Though she was not looking forward to spending time with the smuggler, she was looking forward to traveling through the galaxy. She hoped that she would be able to convince him to travel outside the usual hyperspace lanes to planets that suited her goals without making him suspicious. Malachor and Mustafar would be far too obvious, but perhaps he would be more understanding if she wanted to return to Jakku.

Rey wanted to know what exactly her parents had been doing stationed there. She had tried to ask Grand Admiral Sloane about her experiences on Jakku after she had become more acquainted with her, but the admiral remained tight lipped about the end of the war. She was more comfortable when Rey asked about serving under the Emperor, which was still useful information, but not everything that Rey needed and wanted to know.

After having defeated her seventh consecutive training obstacle course, complete with battle droid and Resistance troop simulations, Rey powered down her lightsaber and headed back to her quarters. She had a comm scheduled with the smuggler, and she wasn’t entirely sure what she would say. It had been a week since the treaty had been officially concluded, the Resistance having received approval from the New Republic, the First Order, and the Naboo government for the wedding and for the former senator to officiate. From what Rey had heard, the Nubians were overjoyed to host the wedding, hoping to increase tourism to the planet afterwards.

Hux had passed along various wedding dress designs from the galaxy’s finest couturiers, but Rey couldn’t help but roll her eyes at everything. She was not a princess, meant to be coddled and hidden behind voluminous fabric. She would have readily worn her basic everyday apparel, but was persuaded when the Queen of Naboo herself suggested her favorite designer.

The dress was ornate, yet elegant. Looking at old holos of her grandfather in his senatorial days, before becoming Emperor, and of Padme Amidala, Ben’s biological grandmother, it seemed to her that they would have approved of her choice. She would be able to carry her lightsaber with her and access it easily, should the worst occur. She would still have a full range of motion and fight off any attackers if need be, but she would look like “a proper bride”, as Hux put it.

She stopped Phasma one morning on her rounds and asked the other woman her opinion, even though Rey knew the captain would probably be buried in her chrome armor and likely had no apparel besides the standard First Order issue.

“I think it will suit the occasion, and it will suit you as well,” she said, saluting and then continuing on her route.

Now only a week remained before she was due to meet Ben on Naboo, and then another week until she would actually wear the dress and get married.

She sighed when she saw the smuggler’s name appear on her comlink.

Pressing accept, she surrendered her will to that of the Force.

“Bon dia,” he said, sounding as energetic as she had come to expect from him.

“Bon dia,” she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the delay in posting this latest chapter; it was due to me waiting for beta editing that never came. Therefore, any mistakes and errors present in this chapter are entirely my own.


	9. Naboo

Naboo was even more beautiful than Rey expected it to be. There was water and greenery everywhere, quite the opposite of Jakku, and the architecture was soft and flowing, a contrast to the harsh parallel lines of a Star Destroyer in space. 

Everywhere she turned, her senses were assaulted by an abundance of blues and greens. Water trickled from fountains; vines hung from buildings. Children laughed and played in the streets. 

Rey had never seen anything like it before. The people of Naboo seemed happy, content with their lives in a way that no one on Jakku or within the First Order were. There was no incessant striving to eke out a living, no political backstabbing, no malice and animosity here. Everywhere Rey turned, children were helping older ladies and gentlemen carry their packages home. Discussions on the street were about charity work, democracy, and the impending nuptials. 

It felt too good to be true. 

After the New Republic delegation arrived, they made a big show of a HoloNet press conference with Queen Encendria welcoming General Organa, Mon Mothma, and Rey’s intended with kisses on both cheeks. 

The First Order’s delegation stood around and glared while watching the conference, saying nothing. They too had been invited, but Hux had refused the invitation on behalf of them all. The Queen seemed to accept the slight with good humor, graciously inviting everyone to dine with her that evening. 

The wedding rehearsal would be the next day, and the wedding the day following. 

Rey was taking every available opportunity to explore Theed and the surrounding areas. Her tour of her grandfather’s country estate had been less than fruitful, but she hoped behind the peaceful veneer the Naboo citizenry would provide clues to the Empire’s more secret past on the planet. Clues to her own past, and to lead her to further planets on which to explore--if she could escape from her soon to be husband’s watchful eye. 

She broached the subject of their post-wedding plans with him that evening at dinner. 

“Thank you for the language lessons,” she began. “Before we left the conference, we had also discussed taking a mission together after our wedding. I was hoping we could go to Jakku.” 

“Did you leave something behind on that dustball?” Ben asked, smiling at her. Before she could reply, he thankfully continued, preventing her from having to provide her planned excuse. 

“I have to go to Tatooine for some parts a dealer has for me there, but afterwards, you can show me around your home planet. How does that sound?”

“That will be fine,” Rey replied, returning to her Nubian pear dessert. 

“I’m glad,” Ben quietly said, returning to his own pears. The Queen had been engrossed in conversation with former Senator Naberrie, General Organa, and Mon Mothma, leaving Rey, Ben, and Hux to their own devices. Hux preferred to eat in silence and glare at everyone else at their end of the table, which suited Ben and Rey just fine. At the other end of the table, Chewbacca, Han Solo, and Phasma were enjoying their meals with gusto, also not speaking. The dinner had been a fascinating example of the New Republic’s brand of diplomacy beyond her experiences at the conference, it seemed to Rey, who preferred not to waste time on small talk. 

She just had to make it through two more days, and then she would be alone with the smuggler, far away from all of the politicians and the incessant talking. 

The main avenue through Theed had already been set for crowds to gather and watch the post-wedding spectacle. 

In the background, Nubian security officers attempted to be unobtrusive and blend into the crowds. The Naboo citizenry did not outwardly appear to be alarmed at the additional security forced upon their quiet, peaceful planet, but Rey would watch the crowds carefully. She knew Phasma and her Knights would be doing the same.

Rey chose to wear a simple black silk dress to the rehearsal dinner the next day. The Queen’s handmaidens had come to her quarters in the morning over breakfast, offering to help her dress that night and for the wedding the next day. She initially thought to decline, uncomfortable at the thought of so many strangers in her space, but the handmaidens’ presence was soothing, and she had heard tell that the women were intensively trained in combat and subterfuge. They could be useful allies, should the situation come to that. 

She spent the morning training with her intended; they did a light sparring session with wooden staffs, then jogged around the city of Theed. Rey watched Ben noting the security presence and preparations the same way she had. 

The afternoon she spent wandering the palace. The library had very little by way of records for the time that the Empire had controlled the planet, and according to the head librarian, many of the records that did exist pertaining to Naboo were destroyed in the Battle of Scarif. Rey did, however, find many records of House Palpatine’s prominence in the planet’s political history, although many assumed that the line had died out with her grandfather. 

She would be certain to change that. 

It was late afternoon as the sun was beginning to set, sending multi-colored streaks of light through the palace’s many decorative windows, that Rey stumbled upon what appeared to be an ancient chapel at the palace’s base, far from the throne room and council chambers. 

The stained glass windows within the chapel were unlike any that Rey had seen before, depicting various gods and goddesses with individual altars set beneath them. Various scented and colored candles were lit as offerings to some deities, while others had physical gifts strewn over their altars as sacrificial objects. 

Rey passed through seven carved and stone arches with gate and key lock symbolism engraved upon them before she entered the chapel proper. 

On Jakku, the Teedos worshipped the angry goddess R’iia, but Rey had never shared their faith. She could not help but feel the weight of thousands of years of worship and devotion pressed upon her as she entered the chapel, however. It was beautiful and powerful in a way she had never experienced before. 

And kneeling at an altar before a stone statue of a beautiful, winged woman brandishing a crescent moon was her fiance. 

He looked up at the sound of her footsteps echoing through the quiet, sacred space, and gestured for her to join him. 

She looked up at the statue of the goddess, noting the resemblance to the portraits of the Queens in the palace’s main hall. 

“This is the moon goddess, Shiraya,” Ben murmured. “My grandmother worshipped her. The queens here often wear headdresses that symbolize the crescent moon to honor her.”

Rey nodded, looking up at Shiraya’s kind face. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” she said, still looking at the goddess. 

“I thought I should pay my respects before the wedding,” Ben said, turning back to her once more. “Pooja told me that House Naberrie honors Shiraya above the rest of the gods, while many here in Theed honor the Goddess of Safety. Others prefer the water goddess, Aigualí.” 

Rey did not remark upon the novel idea of a water goddess, merely nodding at her fiance and watching as he left the small chapel. 

She found Aigualí’s altar at the corner of the chapel nearest the gardens. Rather than an elaborate table with offerings upon it, her altar was a gently flowing pool of water connected to the garden through the chapel wall. Candles floated on stones within the pool, and objects were left on the rock formations that supported it. 

Rey could not help but kneel and stroke her fingers through the water, watching the ripples she created, then sprinkled the water over herself. 

She looked up at the depiction of the goddess in the stained glass window above her, and wished that she had known a life where people honored fresh water so. 

She remained in the chapel for many more moments, listening to the sound of the flowing water and feeling the presence of the gods. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading and patiently waited for this chapter while I dealt with upheaval in my personal life, law school, and writing a bunch of other one shots. I appreciate it more than I can say. I hope you all enjoyed The Last Jedi as much as I did. This fic is still my joy and will be my longest work once completed! And if you are of the sort who enjoys writing/reading playlists, I recommend you listen to “God Help the Outcasts” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame as you read the chapel scene. (I have posted a playlist for this fic at: https://8tracks.com/politicalmamaduck/the-last-shot)


	10. The Wedding

Ben Solo wasn’t sure what he had pictured for his wedding day as a child. He couldn’t remember thinking much about it; he was always more concerned with when his parents would come home, or controlling his burgeoning Force powers. He had always pictured his parents, and uncles Luke, Chewie, Lando, and Wedge by his side for his wedding, however, even at the worst of his parents’ fighting.

Despite the incessant arguing, they had always seemed happy enough. That’s what he knew he had always wanted--to be happy, to feel a sense of belonging with his bride. To not be alone, for once in his life.

He knew, deep down, that quite a bit of his parents’ fighting when he was growing up had been his own doing. Han Solo and Leia Organa were both impassioned individuals, and neither would ever admit their own faults, and certainly didn’t blame their son for their marital troubles. But he knew the truth nonetheless, as deeply in his soul as he knew himself.

Ben had faced his own truths in the Tatooine desert after the truth about his mother and uncle’s parentage had been blasted across the HoloNet for the entire galaxy to see. He had spent long hours meditating, wrestling with his demons, including Snoke, and drinking and fighting in seedy cantinas.

After which, he developed a far better working, professional relationship with his father.

His mother would always be his mother.

He did not reach out to her mind to ascertain her thoughts as his bride strode down the aisle to the dais where they would be married. She stood at her full height, proudly and confidently, though he knew without reaching out to her that underneath her calm exterior her emotions were roiling.

Rey wore one of the Queen of Naboo’s crowns, generously loaned for the occasion, and she looked every bit the perfect bride, a vision like one of the goddesses worshipped in the chapel below.

[Her dress was black, completely covered in a rainbow of multicolored gems that caught the sunlight streaming into the throne room](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M2nblDsJR9x0ov6lGNcxKyapotCxd0xp/view?usp=sharing).

She wore a version of the arm wraps she habitually wore, leftover from her time scavenging on Jakku. They were same shade of black and material as her dress, however, perfectly tailored to match and fit her personality. Also of the same material and covered in the same gems was her veil, trailing down her back from the bottom of the Queen’s crown.

Ben had no doubt that beneath the full skirt that trailed behind her Rey had hidden her lightsaber.

She was stunning and awe-inspiring in a way that Ben had not expected, and he found himself holding his breath as she approached.

He took her hand as she started up the steps to the dais, noting that it was warm, yet callused from training, much like his own.

He would not, could not allow himself to think of how soft the rest of her skin might be. Her upper arms and chest were exposed, in contrast to her normal coverings, and he did not want his gaze to linger there.

She stood across from him, still holding his hands as the ceremony dictated, then finally looked up at him and into his eyes.

Her eyes had been rimmed with eyeliner and shadow and her lashes had been doused in mascara for the holorecorders, but they were as honest and open as Ben had ever seen them. Rey had always been so guarded, so simmering with anger, that to see her here, looking vulnerable and beautiful took Ben’s breath away.

She seemed so much like he knew he had been before he made his peace with his family.

For just a moment they stood there upon the dais, hundreds of eyes upon them in the palace, and millions more on the HoloNet, but to Ben it seemed that he and Rey were the only two people in the world as they stood there, looking into each other’s eyes.

They did not love each other. They barely knew one another at a surface level. But somehow, their destinies had become intertwined in such a way that they would be each other’s partner and support in an uncertain future. The peace that Ben’s mother and Rey’s colleague had brokered might not last; the galaxy could be plunged into the throes of war once more.

But Ben and Rey were profoundly linked by machinations far beyond that of human hands. The will of the Force, of the gods as the devout Nubians would say, had brought them together in this moment. Ben knew that in the netherworld of the Force, his grandparents would be proud.

Aunt Pooja, as Ben had come to know her, had started the official ceremony. Her voice was strong and clear and rose above the throngs in the palace who were desperate to catch a glimpse of the galaxy’s most famous prodigal son and the mysterious, dark beauty who would be his bride.

He knew it would be a long day and night, filled with handshakes and greetings in many languages, well wishes and whispers behind backs.

But for now, Ben only wanted to enjoy his personal moment of quiet, looking upon his bride and listening to his mother’s cousin reading ancient and sacred wedding rites.

 _“Shiraya, brilla la teva llum en aquesta parella_.”

It was traditional for the couple to choose the deity they wished to honor, and the officiant would ask for both deities’ blessings for the union. Ben had chosen his grandmother’s goddess, and knew that she smiled down upon him.

“ _Aigualí, que la teva aigua encoratjaria les seves vidas.”_

Pooja’s invocation of the goddess Aigualí caused Ben to look at Rey once more, startled and impressed by her choice of the gentle Nubian water goddess, who many young women in the countryside revered.

He smiled at her, and the corners of her lips turned up slightly.

It was a small gesture, but it was the start of a smile, of a promise for a future together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to my dear friend Jen/larirenshadow for betaing this chapter for me, and to everyone who's been reading and waiting for this moment.


	11. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do view thereminnsonata's beautiful drawing of Rey in her wedding dress [here](https://politicalmamaduck.tumblr.com/post/170056524514/thereminnsonata-she-stood-across-from-him-still), and Roselinath's drawing of the wedding [here](https://politicalmamaduck.tumblr.com/post/170557664249/roselinath-shaded-commission-for)!

The wedding contract, and the treaty recognizing the Second Galactic Concordance, were signed with every imaginable courtesy and circumstance recognized. The document was considered important enough to be captured on real flimsiplast, a lasting monument to the occasion, or perhaps an ancient relic to be rendered obsolete within a matter of time. Queen Encendria presented an ancient calligraphy quill for signatures. Hux, of course, scowled at her as he dipped the pen in an inkwell and signed his name with flourish. 

Rey was unsure of how to affix her own signature to the document. Rey of Jakku was how she had been known for most of her life, whereas Rey Palpatine seemed far more official, and from a certain point of view would honor their Nubian hosts. She did not consider signing it Rey Organa-Solo. In the end, she did not have to decide, for beneath the signature line she was listed as Rey, Master of the Knights of Ren. She signed “Rey”, the ink flowing and making her name look elegant, like it belonged with Leia Organa and Mon Mothma’s signatures. 

After the signatures had been affixed, a cheer rose up from the assembled personages who had been deemed important or essential enough to attend the highly choreographed and security laden event. The bride and groom led the procession out of the palace chapel, the Queen and her handmaidens following close behind. A cacophony of sounds surrounded the newly married couple and the entourage as they exited the sanctum of the palace for the crowds in the streets. 

The wedding had certainly been a boon to the Nubian economy; hopefully it would help keep the peace as dictated by the Second Galactic Concordance as planned as well. The crowds seemed appreciative of the opulent display; streamers and handkerchiefs were raised in the air as confetti and flower petals flowed freely, scattered with abandon. The smells and sounds were nearly overwhelming, cheers arising as each dignitary passed by in the parade, the flowers being crushed underfoot raising up a plume of scent with each step. 

Rey’s face hurt from the smile plastered onto her face; her arm began to ache from waving and shaking hands. Ben appeared to be a natural at greeting crowds; young girls giggled and batted their eyelashes at him. Despite her lack of regard for her new smuggler husband, she had to fight a scowl as she saw the young women fawning over him despite the fact that she was right there by his side, his newly married wife. She was finally able to have a moment with him at the end of the parade route, the procession having passed through the main thoroughfare of the capital city. 

They turned and faced the crowds, smiling and waving. A huge cheer went up as their respective sides joined them and lined up beside them. Next to Ben were his mother and father; Hux drew up next to Rey, followed by Phasma. It was a perfect HoloNet moment, and Rey knew it would be captured and memorialized as such instantaneously. Ben had his arms around her to his right and his mother to his left, and Rey found that for the moment, she didn’t mind.   


Before she could ask him about his interactions with the crowds, he leaned over to whisper in her ear, keeping one eye on the crowds around them and continuing to grin, looking for all the galaxy like a thrilled groom. 

“You chose Aigualí’s blessing.”

She nodded, ever so slightly, not wanting to draw too much attention to their conversation. 

“I understand my grandfather kept no gods besides his own power. He used the Force as a tool and a weapon more so than respecting its power. Perhaps he should have looked closer to his companions, like your grandfather, and those who did, and his Empire would not have collapsed. I see no reason to disrespect the gods here. And water was a precious resource on Jakku.”

Ben nodded and took her hand gently. Whispering once more, he said “I think we’re supposed to head back along the parade route for the feast now, but I’d appreciate it if you told me more about your childhood later.”

She nodded, and allowed him to continue holding her hand as they turned to lead the parade back to the palace, the delegations following them in turn. She and Ben waved to the crowds once more with their other hands, a broad smile plastered across both their faces. 

Rey was exhausted from social interaction in a way she never had been before. She had always scorned the falsity of politicians, but she found herself impressed by the stamina of the elder members of the contingent following behind her, such as Mon Mothma. The elder stateswoman showed no signs of flagging energy, waving enthusiastically and chatting amiably with Pooja Naberrie and Admiral Ackbar. 

In front of the Republic’s senior leader were Ben’s parents and their Wookiee companion. Rey could understand some Shryiiwook from her time spent with simulators on Jakku, but in all the wedding extravaganza, she had not had a chance to communicate with the legendary Chewbacca. 

She predicted she would have many interesting conversations that night at the celebratory feast and ball. It certainly would be useful to her to glean more information about not only the Republic’s planning for the future, but also where she and her new husband would head when it was time for them to be alone and portray the farce of a happily married couple. 

Despite what she had heard about their tempestuous relationship, Captain Solo and the princess still seemed to be as in love as ever; his arm was about her waist as they continued the procession. His roguish grin charmed the young ladies in the crowd as much as his son’s did, it seemed, and his wife seemed charmed by the spectacle. 

Rey knew that her mother in law hid a heart as strong as kyber beneath the regal, practiced visage, and she would have to tread carefully around her. It was from Leia Organa that her husband had inherited that infamous, unyielding Force power, and while she knew it had been Luke Skywalker to carry that burden more so than his twin sister, it could never be underestimated. 

Rey knew that in herself all too well. She found her own reserve deep within herself, and asked for strength to get through the night ahead of her without shattering any more glassware. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting for this chapter and to all those who started reading and left me comments since the last chapter! In the meantime I wrote two pieces for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's gift fic exchange, More Than Love: [Prevailed Upon to Marry](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13687932), a Pride and Prejudice AU, and [you burn with me](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13487715), a soulmark AU! There are also 213 other fics in that collection that you should check out. Thank you again for your support of this piece--it means the world to me, truly. This fic has been a dream come true to write.  
> And as usual, a huge thanks to my dear friend Jen/larirenshadow for her support and betaing!


	12. The Wedding Night

There was a cocktail reception with small plates of appetizers waiting for them when they returned to the palace; many of the guests who had been the Great Hall for the ceremony were there waiting for them when they returned. Others had opted to take tours of the palace, or walk through the surrounding gardens. 

Rey was very much looking forward to some refreshment at last when she and Ben were suddenly swept away for a glamorous wedding holo shoot. 

Rey and Ben were forced to pose for a variety of HoloNews outlets and gawking guests. They looked lovingly into each other’s eyes, admired the flowers in the gardens, posed with various dignitaries from nearly every inhabited planet, and contorted their bodies in different poses to portray a happy couple in love. 

Rey couldn’t help but think that the greater galaxy looking at the livestreams and photos on the HoloNet would see through their attempts, that everyone knew the treaty was the only reason that she and Ben had ever met. Perhaps in a different life, they would have been Jedi apprentices together, or she would have collected the bounty on his head. Perhaps in another life, they could have been happy with partners of their choosing. 

Yet here they were, on one of the most beautiful planets in the galaxy, pretending to be relaxed and happy and healthy while the weight of a treaty between an intergalactic government and governmental organization that had been at war for the past seven years rested on their well-dressed shoulders. 

She knew Ben had to be looking forward to the wedding feast as much as she was. Rey had never been picky about food; she never had a choice of meals on Jakku, and was accustomed to constantly being hungry. Ben had been trained to act with all propriety and decorum at political dinners since he was a child, and she was sure that beneath his mother’s training he hid an appetite even more prodigious than hers. 

When they were finally released from the paparazzi’s clutches, Ben put his hand on the small of her back as they hastened back indoors and headed straight for the nearest table laden with food, grabbing glasses of fine Nubian wine on the way in. 

“You must be starving,” he murmured, nodding at a passing ambassador and clinking his glass to hers. 

“I am,” she admitted, taking a sip of her wine. It tasted fresh and fruity, and went down all too easily. She was certain that the more wine was provided to the guests, the more indiscriminate tongues would become later that night. Perhaps it was by design. She made a mental note to take care to listen carefully once the drinking and dancing had begun in earnest. 

“What kinds of foods do you like?” Ben asked as they finally reached the appetizer table. 

“Anything,” she replied. “What about you?”

He laughed. “Me too. Make sure you save room for dessert--we’re having the famous Naboo pears again in addition to the wedding cake. And caf with Corellian whiskey.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she admitted, finally having found something to look forward to on a seemingly never ending day full of socializing and false smiles.

“Apparently there’s supposed to be a dish from every planet that has a representative here,” he said, handing her a plate of spiced leathermeat from Mandalore.

The spices exploded on her tongue, and the meat was filling, providing a strong contrast to the fruity wine. 

They moved down the table to find cheeses and fruits. Ben picked up another plate and a cube of soft blue cheese.

“My uncle grew up eating homemade blue milk cheese,” he said, handing her a plate with a large piece with grainy crackers and a meiloorun fruit. 

Before she could continue the conversation, savoring the soft cheese on her tongue, bells rang out to announce the start of the feast. 

All around them, dignitaries hastened to finish their cocktails and appetizers and pass their empty plates and glasses to waiting serving droids and human servers dressed in palace livery. Their Nubian royal hosts had spared no expense in making the multitude of guests welcome, and Ben felt both immensely grateful for his grandmother’s heritage and mother’s connections to her biological family, and guilty that he was the cause of such conspicuous consumption. 

He and Rey were to be the head of the table, of course; far at the other end was the queen and her council of advisors. Hux and Mon Mothma centered the table, across from each other, and all the seats in between were filled with the many chattering guests. 

The foods ranged from the rich and hearty to light and sweet; fresh glasses of wine and water varieties matched to each plate accompanied every course. 

The promise of dishes from nearly every known planet at dinner did not disappoint. Succulent nerf steaks and bantha tartare were two of the main meat courses; goatgrass salad complemented them nicely. There were fish and wild, gamier dishes; fruits and vegetables; and dessert was still yet to come. 

Rey welcomed the bounty of food as a respite from small talk. To Ben’s left was his mother; to her left was his father. She was entirely unsure of what to say to either, so she smiled and nodded along as Ben and Leia discussed the many courtiers and dignitaries farther down the table. To the right of Captain Solo was the fearsome Chewbacca, who vastly preferred the meat dishes to the salads and soups. 

When the next soup appeared, a rich, clear broth with steaming chunks of seafood, Chewbacca leaned over to his captain and pushed the soup towards him. Captain Solo then pushed it towards Rey. 

“Chewie’s not much of one for non-spicy soups,” he said, nodding at his first mate. “On Kashyyyk they make everything spicy and thick with lots of meat. Eat up, I’m sure you could use it.”

“Thank you,” she replied, and nodded at the Wookiee, taking a hearty bite of the warm soup.

The first dessert was a warm jogan fruit cake, served with the promised caf and Corellian whiskey. The Nubian pears made their appearance with a flourish, appearing to float in thin transparisteel bowls with fresh whipped cream and brandy. And finally there was the oversized wedding cake, delivered to the hall with great ceremony by the Queen’s handmaidens. 

Ben and Rey cut the cake together using a beautiful ceremonial knife with a carved bone handle. The crowd burst into applause, raising glasses of fine wine and champagne. 

After cake was served, the dancing began. Ben led Rey onto the dance floor to a traditional Nubian wedding song; the next dance was a traditional Alderaanian waltz, led by General Organa and Captain Solo. As the leading representative of the First Order, General Hux led the next dance, another waltz from his homeworld, Arkanis. Phasma was his partner, towering over him in her heels and looking elegant in contrast to her usual armor. 

After that, the space cleared for the dance floor filled with nearly all the guests. Serving droids waited nearby with trays for emptied glasses, and the human servers circulated with new glasses. 

The night seemed to stretch on and on as Rey was whirled about, going from dance to dance and partner to partner. Everyone wanted their chances to dance with the bride and groom after they had shared the first three dances. 

Ben passed her a glass of fine sparkling water from Mon Calamari as the music changed to an upbeat Twi’lek song; she was dancing with former Senator Ransolm Casterfo, while he danced with former Mand’alor and Rebel operative Sabine Wren. 

Rey was able to sneak off the dance floor and have a glass of Bespin Sparkle with Phasma before she and Ben had to dance the last dance of the evening. The piece to which they danced was both beautiful and haunting, and seemed strangely familiar. 

“What is this song?” she whispered to Ben as they swayed, all eyes upon them. 

“It was written here on Naboo about my grandparents, Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker,” he replied, looking around at the crowd watching them and then down at her. “I hope we have a better ending than they did.”

“Me too,” she replied, not meeting his eyes. Although she did not love her husband, she would not wish the agonies of his ancestry upon him or upon their children, were they to have any. She certainly did not wish to die in childbirth as his beloved grandmother had. 

As the dance ended, he pressed a kiss to her hand. “Go ahead and retire for the evening, and take our room for yourself for a bit. I still have to wish my family goodnight,” he said, sheepishly. 

She nodded, and did not hesitate to take him up on the offer.

Rey had lived the entirety of her life, or at least what she could remember, in solitude on Jakku until the Supreme Leader had found her. Even since she earned the title of Master of the Knights of Ren and took up residence within the First Order, she spent the majority of her time alone, whether training, meditating, or communing with Snoke. 

She retired to the exquisite suite that had been set aside for the newlyweds, and realized suddenly that she would never be alone like she had been again. Unless she ended up selling her husband to the Hutts after all, or killed him should things turn sour. 

As beautiful as her wedding dress, complete with matching arm wraps and veil and topped by the Queen’s tiara, had been, she was relieved to take it off and return to her fighting leathers the next day. A cloak could be just as elegant as a gown, and she felt just as feminine and powerful with her arm wraps and worn gloves, her lightsaber strapped to her side, as she did wearing the Queen of Naboo’s tiara. For tonight, however, she slipped into a silk nightgown and robe that had been provided for her.

She quickly checked the room for any hidden devices or assassins; even though she knew both the First Order and the Resistance security teams had likely been through every room in the palace multiple times each day, she could never rest easy until she had seen for herself that things were secure. 

After her room check was complete, she sat down on the sofa, pulled her knees to her chest, and began to meditate. There was so much life on Naboo; it made it seem as though the planet itself was strong with the Force. It was soothing and exciting all at once; the life giving water the Nubians valued so much was ever present and flowing through fountains in the palace gardens just outside and below them; nearby, a waterfall cascaded and created power for the city. 

Rey fell deeper into her meditation, her breathing coinciding with the flow of the water and drops from the fountain outside. 

_ I am one with the Force, the Force is with me.  _

_ Aigualí, que la teva aigua encoratjaria les seves vidas. _

All around her, she could feel life’s hum and thrum. Life, death, birth, renewal, decay. The Force and its balance and power called to her, sang to her in the voice of a young woman laughing and splashing in the water, flowers entwined in her hair and adorning her bare feet. 

_ These are your first steps _ , a man said to her, interrupting her vision. Much like the last song to which she and Ben had danced, the voice was somehow familiar, even though she knew she had never heard it before. 

She opened her eyes and came out of her meditation just as Ben entered the room, closing and locking the door behind him. 

“Do you feel better?” he asked, coming to sit beside her and resting his hand on her knee. “I could tell you were getting tired of all the socializing. And I could feel you meditating; your presence in the Force is very powerful and distinctive.” 

She nodded. “The Force is very strong on this planet. It’s very different from Jakku, or being in space.” She paused, looking down at his hand, and reached out again for just a moment. “Your presence is very strong and distinctive too.”

He chuckled and got up from the couch. “So I’ve heard. Would you like another glass of wine or champagne? Or have you had enough of both for the night?”

She hadn’t even noticed the miniature bar that had been set up for them in the corner of the room; two kinds of wine and a bottle of champagne were waiting for them in ice buckets, along with a fruit platter. 

“We could have a glass of champagne before bed,” she said, joining him in looking at the bottles and the fruit. 

Ben popped the cork and poured them glasses. “Here’s to our end of the bargain and making our own future.”

She clinked her glass against his, and took a long, deep drink while he did the same. 

He finished his glass, and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “Get some rest tonight, Rey. We have the post-wedding breakfast tomorrow, and then we can explore Naboo. I’ll take the couch.”

She looked up at him, surprised by his offer. “You don’t want to sleep together?”

He shook his head. “We’re married now, that’s all that matters for the terms of the treaty. We barely know each other. I intend to respect your independence no matter what.”

They settled in for the night with piles of blankets and pillows. With all the nearby water and open, airy chambers in addition to Naboo’s temperate climate, the nights were chilly. 

Rey found it difficult to sleep; her mind was still reeling from the day’s events. She wasn’t quite sure what to think about what had happened, and what her future would hold. She would be fine no matter what, she knew. She survived Jakku; she could survive anything. 

Whether she wanted to merely survive or to build a life with the man sleeping on the couch a few feet away from her, however, was a different story. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to my beta boos Jen/larirenshadow and Desiree for betaing! I had so much fun looking up canonverse food in order to write this chapter.


	13. Goodbye to Naboo

When Rey awoke in her nest of pillows and blankets the next morning, Ben was already gone. The sun was streaming in through the window to their balcony, and she stepped outside to take in the sunshine and the fresh air, stretching her arms and back as she went. She could hear the trickle of water from the fountains, and the call of birds flying through the air. 

It was a beautiful day, her first full day of married life, and she was curious as to what it would entail. She was eager to explore the galaxy, free of the confines her regimented life within the First Order entailed. However, she was less certain about her new husband and his intentions, and she worried at her lower lip thinking about leaving her Knights behind for so long. She had scarcely thought of them throughout the treaty negotiation and wedding planning process; it had been far too long since she had seen them, trained with them, pressed her helmet to each one of theirs. They would have to be her eyes and ears throughout the galaxy while she was playing smuggler with her husband. Chaf’ali’sabosen, a brilliant and beautiful former Chiss lawyer and politician better known as Falisa Ren, was her second in command. She would be eager to put her prodigious language skills to use doing some intelligence work, Rey knew. 

The feast and ball had been thoroughly disappointing in terms of obtaining information about the Resistance’s plans and latest movements. The senators and dignitaries with whom she had danced had been models of decorum and discretion; the conversations always focused on benign topics such as the beautiful scenery on Naboo, the overwhelming amount of food and drink they had consumed, and the evening’s fashions rather than galactic politics and the treaty that had brought them all together in the first place. 

Rey pondered sending her Knights to various planets to gather intelligence for a few more minutes, then returned back inside the marital suite to get dressed for the day. She said her goodbyes to the Queen’s handmaidens who helped her get ready for the rehearsal dinner and wedding when they arrived at the suite as she was packing her small bag. She never had many possessions, and it seemed unlikely that she would be accumulating much more in the future. 

The handmaidens informed her that her new husband went to prepare their ship before a post-wedding brunch. 

“Her Highness understands if you’d prefer not to attend and make preparations for your travels, my lady, but your presence would be welcomed,” the senior handmaiden, Aine, told her. 

Rey silently thanked the Nubian goddess and nodded at Aine. “I do have preparations to make, but I would love to have a meal and thank the Queen for her hospitality personally before I depart.” One never knew where an ally would be necessary in the future, and Queen Encendria had more than demonstrated what a powerful and valuable ally she could be. 

The handmaidens bowed and curtseyed as they made their exit. “We will see you at brunch when you choose to join us, Lady Rey.”

She nodded at them once more, then quickly checked the room for listening devices once more as soon as the door shut behind them. Rey and Ben had slept soundly, separately, the night before, exhausted by the day’s events and lulled by alcohol. She found nothing, and pulled out her comlink, entering a secure line to the Knights of Ren. The connection wasn’t particularly strong, but not too long thereafter, Oona Ren answered Rey’s comm. 

A stunning blue-skinned Twi’lek, Oona Ren was the only one of Rey’s knights besides Falisa to use her birth name as her name in the Order as well. As a girl on Ryloth she had grown up hearing tales of the famous Rebellion general Hera Syndulla, who hailed from her planet. Like so many, she became disillusioned by the mess created by the New Republic and the first Galactic Concordance, railing against the trafficking in Twi’lek women and girls to become exotic dancers and entertainers across the galaxy. Oona made a name for herself as a pirate and saboteur on the galaxy’s wealthiest planets, always escaping from near impossible scrapes and doling out impressive damage to sentient traffickers across the galaxy. 

Rey sought her out for a meeting to ascertain if any of the dealers Oona had dealt with in her own way let slip anything about Force artifacts, and discovered the Twi’lek’s Force sensitivity. A graceful and deceptively strong fighter, Oona had been a Knight ever since. 

“Oona. Tell the others I have a new mission for you. I’m going to Tatooine with the smuggler, but we will rendezvous afterwards. I’ll send you the coordinates from Tatooine, and lists of locations and persons to follow now with a secured comm.”

“Yes, my lady,” Oona replied. “We look forward to meeting your husband and deciding if he is worthy of you.”

Rey laughed. “We shall see what happens on Tatooine. Be ready.”

Oona nodded and bowed as the transmission ended. Rey transmitted her list of planets and persons for her Knights to watch, and headed down to brunch with the Queen. To her surprise, Hux and Phasma were there as well, though as usual neither was particularly conversant. 

After Rey thanked the Queen for her hospitality and the use of her tiara, the smaller Nubian woman got up from her chair and took Rey’s hands in her own. 

“You may be a child of the desert, but your blood belongs to Naboo,” the Queen said. “You will always be welcome here. It brings my people joy to see galactic peace and democracy once more. Remember Naboo, and carry us with you as you begin your married life.” 

Rey could sense the honesty in the Queen’s words, and also a hint of a warning regarding the prized peace and democracy. 

“I will,” she replied, knowing she would never be able to forget the finery and sumptuousness of her wedding even if the marriage was a farce. “Thank you again, my lady.”

The Queen smiled, and pressed Rey’s hands, letting them go. “May the Force be with you.” 

Rey bowed to the Queen in acknowledgment and respect, replying “And may the Force be with you.” With that, she took her leave, and headed to the hangar to find her husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was unbetaed, so any mistakes are entirely my own fault. Thank you all for reading and commenting; it has helped me survive this semester of law school hell.


	14. The First Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before this chapter, I absolutely have to give a huge shoutout and thank you to Lenuca, who made moodboards for each previous chapter and gifted them to me on Tumblr! Please see her Tumblr or my own for them (our usernames are the same there). I have created a tag on my Tumblr for everything related to this piece, which you can find [here](http://politicalmamaduck.tumblr.com/tagged/this-thing-of-darkness-i-acknowledge-mine).

Awaiting Rey in the Nubian palace hangar was a ship that looked frightfully out of place next to the royal fleet and planetary defense fighters. It was an ancient Corellian freighter of uncertain make, model, and provenance, and she would have known it for her husband’s even if she didn’t feel his Force presence in the general vicinity.

Eyeing the ship skeptically, she stepped on board. The interior was a mishmash of equipment and tools strewn everywhere, exposed wiring, and a hodgepodge of circuitry that looked like it was in desperate need of repair and refurbishment.

Her skepticism must have been broadcasting itself more strongly through the Force than she intended, for around the corner came her husband, wiping his hands on a grease rag.

“I know the _Millennium Falcon_ is nothing like the _Finalizer_. But you’ll get used to her eventually. She’s a bit of an acquired taste.”

“This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than fourteen parsecs?” Rey was incredulous. Everyone in the galaxy knew of the legendary _Millennium Falcon_ , even the scavengers on Jakku. Snoke hated the ship and all it stood for: the legends of the Rebellion giving way to the youth of the Resistance and their hotshot pilots, Core world engineering mixed with non-human expertise and support.

“Twelve!” called a gruff voice from the ship’s engineering compartment. Han Solo appeared, wiping his hands on a rag slung over his leather jacketed shoulder. Chewbacca was not long behind him, growling [Hello, young cubs.]

“Fourteen,” the elder captain muttered, shaking his head at his first mate.

Ben rolled his eyes at his father, and turned back to Rey. “We’re headed to Tatooine first, to pick up some parts and equipment. I’m sorry that it’s so similar to Jakku, but we’ll get you there eventually.”

Rey nodded. “Yes, and when we do I’ll want my Knights with me, so it will take some coordination,” she replied nonchalantly, trying to gauge Ben’s reaction.

He merely nodded, as Chewbacca offered a low [Be careful, young cubs.]

Captain Solo nodded in concurrence with Chewie. “That old dustball hasn’t gotten any better over the years. Old Jabba’s gone, but his family isn’t much better.”

“I should know, dad,” Ben said, clearly thinking of the bounty that marked him as a prime target on a planet like Tatooine. 

“Repairs are finished for now. Watch the hydraulic control circuit, she was finicky on the way over. And make sure you comm your mother,” Han said, clasping Ben on the shoulder. At that, Han and Ben exchanged a meaningful look that Rey couldn’t help but notice and wonder at the hidden meaning lurking beneath the warmth between father and son.

Ben nodded at his father, and was enveloped in a massive Wookiee hug.

Captain Solo next offered his hand to Rey. “Welcome to the family. Keep an eye on him for me, will you?”

Shaking his hand, she couldn’t help but agree. “Both eyes, if I can spare them. I’d like to ask about the hydraulic control circuit. I’m shocked that a ship as fast as this one still has one. With all the modifications,” she said, vaguely gesturing at the mess with her hand, “wouldn’t it make sense to upgrade it to a modern conductive composite wafer board?”

Ben raised his eyebrows at his dad, and Chewbacca growled something that sounded like [Smart girl.]

“You’ll get to know the _Falcon_ pretty well, even though she’s a temperamental old bird,” Captain Solo started.

Ben interrupted with “Nothing at all like her owner.”

His father rolled his eyes and waved off his son, continuing. “What they wouldn’t have told you in First Order engineering is that hydraulic control circuits are very resistant to ion cannons.”

The old smuggler winked at her, so much like his son, and Chewbacca laughed.

“May the Force be with you,” he said, bidding them goodbye, “And clear skies."

“You too, Dad,” Ben said, and then he turned to Rey.

“Are you ready to leave? Were you able to say goodbye to everyone?”

She nodded, taking Ben’s measure. He didn’t seem nervous outwardly or in the Force, and she knew she didn’t either. She knew that they both continued to wear their facades, and that it would only be a matter of time before they both were forced to drop their defenses and show each other who they truly were.

Their duel in the training room at the peace conference seemed like a lifetime ago, like one shining beacon of truth where they were honest with each other, their bodies speaking the truth that they would not vocalize.

Ben showed Rey to their sleeping quarters, where she gently set her bag down on the floor next to the bunk.

“I’ll stay in the first mate’s cabin,” he said, gesturing at her bag as she seated herself on the bunk.

“You don’t have to,” she replied without thinking.

He smiled and shook his head. “I’m sure you’ll want your privacy. This ship is pretty small, after all. I barely fit in the bunks by myself, let alone crowding you when you’re trying to rest.”

She nodded, getting back up from her bunk.

He took her hand and said “Let’s take off and jump to hyperspace, and then I’ll give you a proper tour. Have you ever played Dejarik?”

“No, but I’ve heard it can turn violent.”

“Chewie left with my dad, so you don’t have to worry about that as much,” he said with a smile. “I’ll teach you. It  staves off boredom on long flights.”

She settled into the co-pilot’s chair, eagerly watching Ben prime the _Falcon_. As they took off, the beautiful city of Theed and the Nubian countryside turned into a blue and green swirl beneath them. Rey hoped that she would be able to visit again, and knew without asking that Ben felt the same.

He flipped a few more switches, glancing at the navicomputer, and space turned into white and blue lines around them.

She felt the Force stirring too, and wondered what awaited them on Tatooine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to my lovely beta boo Desiree for her help with this chapter, and to all of you lovely readers who have been kind enough to leave me comments. You all truly helped me get through my second year of law school! I am now officially 2/3 a lawyer. Please don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts, either here or on Tumblr!


	15. Tatooine

Tatooine was every bit as dusty and dirty as Jakku, although there was no Graveyard of Ships or Niima Outpost for scavengers to exploit and be exploited. Rather, the seedy cantinas and podraces dominated the local economy, primarily trafficking in Twi’lek women and illicit drugs rather than scavenged ship parts. Although those had their place, too, and were why she and Ben were there at all. The junk dealers on Tatooine offered the best price for old scraps that few would admit they wanted--and didn’t ask twice about who was funding the parts buyers. 

Rey was relieved that the Knights would be joining her after she and Ben left. There was no doubt in her mind that they would have ravaged every cantina and casino on behalf of the slaves, particularly in honor of Oona. Her hands were clenched beneath her cape, itching to pick a fight with some of the odious, despicable beings who hid behind their wares. Now was not the time, however. The time would come for the Knights of Ren to exact retribution.

Ben’s family were legends here; his grandfather was a child prodigy in the podraces, his uncle a living testament to the planet’s potential, and his mother Leia the Huttslayer revered in secret, for the Hutts had regained control of the planet after the crime syndicates destroyed each other in turf wars. The Sand People still roamed the deserts, though they avoided a particular homestead that once served as a moisture farm; ghosts were said to walk there, ghosts that could tell the future and the past. 

It was with all of this in mind and as their backdrop that they were to meet a parts dealer in one of the slightly more reputable cantinas in Mos Eisley. The  _ Falcon _ was always temperamental, and Captain Solo wanted to expand his own crew and fleet of ships. Ben and Rey discussed parts and inventory as they settled in, waiting for Ben’s contact to arrive.

The drinks were nothing like what they enjoyed on Naboo, but Rey was grateful for the refreshment served and the smoky bite that only Corellian whiskey could provide. She and Ben sipped their whiskey, looking for all intents and purposes a normal, loving couple casually having a drink. 

They were anything but, however, and the air crackled with uncertainty. A sandstorm was rumored, and patrons seemed on edge due to the shifting winds. Their words bit and stung like the sand and what lay hidden beneath; card games were becoming aggressive, drinks were sloshing, and Ben had a distinctly bad feeling about the whole thing. The parts dealer was fifteen minutes late; Ben resisted the urge to look at his wrist chrono once more. 

Rey abandoned looking only at Ben, into his dark eyes, and talking with him quietly to maintain their cover, in favor of warily watching the cantina’s other patrons. Discussions centered around an upcoming podrace; wagers were being made over drinks and sabacc hands. There was still no sign of Ben’s parts dealer; he was worried, though he wasn’t certain whether to be more worried about the impending storm or the atmosphere in the cantina. 

That question was abruptly answered for him when a Rodian sitting at the bar began to have words with the Frenk sitting next to him. Words led to drinks being slammed down on the bar, which left their fists free for shoving. The shoving did not last long, for the Rodian pulled his blaster faster than did his unfortunate opponent, who fell to the floor with a hole in his chest. 

The deceased Frenk’s companion at the bar roared and took a vicious swing at the Rodian, and from across the bar, patrons began to erupt in cheers and screams. Sabacc cards and flimsis for wagering bets went flying as beings scrambled either out of the way or to join the fight. The barkeep made the mistake of trying to intervene between the Rodian and the dead Frenk’s friend, and was pushed backward into his bar, scattering glasses and bottles everywhere, shards flying and prompting a scuffle to break out on the other side of the bar as more patrons scrambled to avoid falling bottles and glasses. 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Ben remarked. Rey raised her eyebrows.

“Now is when you’ve decided you have a bad feeling?” she replied, looking aghast. “I thought you were supposed to be powerful in the Force.”

“I am,” he retorted, using said Force to prevent a stumbling, drunk Bith who was trying to escape with a pile of credits from crashing into their table. “I was trying to be optimistic for once in my life.”

Rey snorted and rolled her eyes, reaching for her lightsaber, but Ben grabbed her hand.

“Don’t,” he said, looking at her intently. “That will only make it worse. Let’s get out of here.”

They picked up their cloaks and headed to leave when a Quarren got up from her table and pointed directly at Ben. Neither Ben nor Rey could understand what she called out to nearby patrons, but it could not possibly have been good. 

Half the cantina’s inhabitants stopped punching their neighbors to stare at Ben and Rey, then headed towards them in a swarm. 

Ben and Rey ignited their lightsabers, their backs to the cantina’s only entrance and exit, and began their deadly dance, dodging blaster bolts, fists, and shot glasses alike. A Gamorrean presumably in the Hutts’ employ lunged for Ben with an axe that was supposedly banned from the bar. Ben kicked him in the stomach, pushing him back far enough that he fell into a charging Dug who clearly had been itching for a fight. 

“Guess your parts dealer decided not to show?” Rey asked, deflecting blaster bolts and edging closer to the exit.

“Guess he had a better way of making some money,” Ben said, gesturing with his hand to the Quarren, who had opened his bounty file on her comlink while yelling into it. 

Rey shook her head and sliced into the chest of the Dug, who was enraged after being hit by the Gamorrean’s girth. 

Finally seeing a break in the fighting patrons, Ben and Rey escaped into the swirling sands, leaving the chaos in the cantina behind them. After the carnage they dealt, no one chose to risk their own lives by following them into the tempest.

The desert beckoned, singing their names into the howling wind. Ben could hear its siren call; he knew the Force was still strong where his uncle had grown up, and where Obi-Wan Kenobi created his hermitage. He spent a great deal of time there making peace with himself and with his family’s history, battling his demons, after his original break from his family. Someday, he would take Rey there, show her from whence Anakin Skywalker had come.

  
Today, however, they needed to survive. They fought the wind back to the hangar where they had docked the  _ Millennium Falcon _ , covering their mouths and eyes from the sand, and blasted away from Tatooine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to my dear beta boo Desiree for her help with this chapter, and to my comrades in the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology Discord chat who helped me pick the motley crew of species represented in the bar brawl.   
> Please do let me know what you think!


	16. The Rendezvous

Everything was set for Ben and Rey to meet the Knights of Ren at the Ring of Kafrene, then head onwards to Jakku. Space on the Falcon would be tight, as usual, but Ben knew that it would be meaningful for Rey to have her Knights close to her. He had to admit he was curious about the mysterious group of Dark Side users, and knew the Resistance would be as well, even if they were finally at peace. _Know your enemy_ was a lesson nearly every child in the galaxy learned early in life.

Ben was not certain as to why Rey wanted to return to her home so badly, or for what she searched, but he did not mind taking her there in order to foster goodwill and maintain the fragile peace that they earned with their marriage. For his mother’s sake, he could survive and talk his way out of anything, at least he hoped.

The Ring of Kafrene was an exciting trading post, filled with all the carbon dust, grime, and shady dealers that one would expect, but nothing in the marketplace stalls or docked at the landing pads was nearly as interesting as the Knights of Ren. There were six besides Rey, and they hid their faces behind menacing masks and their bodies behind swirling dark robes and armor.

Each Knight was from a different species, Ben learned, when they returned to the _Falcon_ and removed their helmets, making themselves comfortable. They did not, however, remove their weapons.

“Hello,” Ben began, offering his hand to each Knight in turn. “I’m Ben Solo.”

“We know who you are,” the Chiss Knight of Ren said, stepping forward, her red eyes glinting. “I am Chaf’ali’sabosen, but you may call me Falisa. Falisa Ren,” she said, stepping aside and sweeping her cape so that the next Knight would step forward.

“Oona Ren,” a gorgeous blue Twi’lek woman said, her lekku twitching. She stepped aside as Falisa did to allow another Knight to step forward to Ben.

She in turn was a beautiful Mirialan, with intricate tattoos indicating her skills and talents.

“Keeva Ren,” she said, gesturing to her next sister.

Keeva Ren’s intricate tattoos were simple compared to those of the next Knight of Ren, a dark skinned Zabrak.

“Maeve Ren,” she said, showing her teeth and horns.

The next Knight of Ren was as stunning as her sisters, an Arkanian with milky white eyes and hair.

“Fionnuala Ren,” she said, looking down her nose at Ben in a demonstration of her species’ stereotypical arrogance.

The last Knight of Ren stepped forward, a powerfully built Keshiri with lilac skin and eyes to match.

“Riona Ren,” she said, staring Ben down.

“Welcome to the _Millennium Falcon_ ,” he said, nodding at each warrior in turn. “Please, make yourselves comfortable for the rest of our journey.”

The Knights of Ren swept from the room, leaving Ben alone with his thoughts and the swirl of hyperspace.

All of Rey’s Knights were beautiful in their own way and prodigiously talented with the Dark Side of the Force.

So much Dark Side energy from such powerful and beautiful women was overwhelming for Ben Solo.

He had been fighting the Dark Side for nearly his entire life, and thought he had conquered that particular beast in the deserts of the planet which they just left. Snoke had left him alone for the past seven years, but even if he was no longer present at the back of Ben’s mind, his presence echoed in his life in a very visceral way.

The Dark Side called to him. It did not sing to him the way the Light Side did when he dueled Rey for the first time, so many months ago now. The Dark Side had other ways; it presented the basest, most human of temptations.

Rey truly was a vision sent by the goddesses at their wedding on Naboo. Her dress suited her perfectly, and even though she was painted in cosmetics for the HoloNet cameras by the Queen’s handmaidens, she still managed to look like her typically bare, fresh-faced self. Underneath that veneer for their wedding he could still see the freckles that dusted her face like stardust.

His dreams were a torment of what she would look like underneath that elaborate wedding dress, of soft skin under his, of kisses tinged with blood.

He wanted her, and it would have been so easy to take her by the hand, and pull her into bed with him. It would have been so easy to give in, to truly feel the depths of what the dark could provide, to feel her prodigious Force presence melding with his while their bodies entwined.

The Knights knew how he felt about his new bride, and did not trust him, he could tell. It was a tilt of the helmet here, a weapon positioning there. Ben Solo learned to read people even without the Force nearly as early as he learned _Know your enemy_. The two went as hand in hand as the Light and Dark Sides of the Force, it seemed.

Rey presented him with his greatest temptation since the news that his grandfather and Darth Vader were one and the same was blasted all over the HoloNet. Snoke came to him then, found the darkest, deepest recesses of his mind, and urged him to find his true destiny by the dark being’s side.

Ben screamed, and raged, and fled his uncle’s academy for the deserts of Tatooine, where he killed a few too many of the Hutts’ underlings in drunken cantina brawls much like the one from which they had just escaped. He earned the price on his head while fighting the darkness within it. Snoke had always been there, his shadow, his echo, his nightmare.

At his great-grandmother’s homestead, his uncle’s home he found his peace, and his center, and thought he had found his destiny by confronting the ghosts of the past, and the ghost who had never left him alone.

Perhaps he had been wrong. It wouldn’t have been the first time. The Force still swirled around him and Rey; he could feel it even more strongly now that the Knights were in such close proximity. His fingers itched for his lightsaber once more.

The _Falcon’s_ main console started blaring, and Ben headed back into the ship’s main compartment to find Rey and the Knights lounging, some around the Dejarik table, sharing drinks and enjoying a boisterous game.

“We’re coming up on Jakku now,” he said, and Rey met his gaze, as steely as ever. The Knights set down their glasses, shut down the game board, and stood at attention.

“We hunt,” Rey said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to my dear beta boo Desiree for her help with this chapter. Please do, as always, let me know what you think!


	17. The First Flashback

_Jakku, thirty years prior_ :

Gallius Rax’s failed attempt to fulfill the Emperor’s mission and the final destruction of the Empire above Jakku had not been easy to watch.

It was even harder to bear knowing that they’d be trapped on Jakku, a graveyard of Star Destroyers and light fighters surrounding them, Shieva Palpatine thought. Not that she could use that name, even if she wanted to. Her father was dead, and there was no one left to honor his memory. She would be alright; she always was. Her father made certain of that. She was trained and tutored by the best and brightest Imperial City had to offer, and her father himself oversaw her Force training.

She wished she could have seen her mother one last time; there hadn’t been word from Coruscant in weeks and Shieva could no longer feel that familiar presence in the Force that meant her mother.

Besides the remaining Imperial soldiers guarding the observatories, Shieva was alone on Jakku.

She would do her duty though; she always would, as she always had.

She would find a way to bring the Empire back to its full glory. The others went to the Unknown Regions, another pet project of her father’s. They would regroup and rebuild, and Shieva would be ready on Jakku.

Now, for survival. At least one of the remaining officers was handsome, and Shieva knew how to play human men. That, she learned from her mother and the other women in the Imperial court. Seduction and flirting in such a manner were considered untoward both on Naboo and within the ranks of the Imperial Navy, but they certainly had their uses elsewhere. A little sweetness would go a long way through Jakku’s desert sands, Shieva was certain. Fortunately, he had been close to the Emperor; they had met before, and his name suggested Nubian heritage.

It was time to put her plan into motion. The sands swirled about her as the Force moved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to my beta boo Desiree for her help with this chapter. As always, please do let me know your thoughts! 
> 
> I do also want to warn you, my dear readers, that as I am one of the moderators/editors for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology, my focus will be there this summer and that updates on this fic will sadly be infrequent. Please do be on the lookout for the Anthology's release this September, however! I plan to return here with a vengeance after we have completed publication.


	18. Jakku

Niima Outpost seemed to be the only center of civilization for miles. It was that much less civilized now that the main proprietor, a large Crolute, lay dead just outside his stand.

Lightsaber slashes and burns were the tell-tale sign that Rey and her Knights were there.

The Dark Side of the Force impregnated the collapsed structure.

Ben stood back at a distance, neither participating in the slaughter nor interfering. It was not his place to dispute his wife’s form of justice upon the being who caused her so much pain and humiliation. He could not blame her; he only pitied the scavengers who had so little that they sold their souls along with their bodies in hopes of receiving meager portions day after day under the fierce sun.

Rey sighed in relief. Unkar Plutt would never enslave anyone else ever again. She and her sisters just ruined the Jakku economy, but she hoped that between her marriage and the treaty either the First Order or the New Republic would take an interest in the planet. Due to the secrets she knew were hiding in the sands, she vastly preferred the former option, but even the Republic’s pathetic democratic ideals would be an improvement over Plutt’s hardhearted, iron clad control over the black market. 

The Plaintive Hand plateau, in the Valley of the Eremite past the Goazon Badlands’ interminable sands, was their next destination; the Imperial and Rebellion ship remnants and skeletons became much more numerous the farther they headed away from Niima Outpost, indicating they were headed in the correct direction.

Rey always knew there was something hiding in the desert, beyond her capabilities as a mere scavenger to find. She bided her time, asked questions where she could, and snuck data from the First Order’s archives when she was certain she would not be caught. The Empire died and was reborn above Jakku; Rey knew her parents had to be there for a reason.

The location for which they searched was nearly buried in the sand; turrets and cannons remained nearby, also buried and broken. It took both Rey and Falisa’s hand prints to open the ancient looking bunker door; the others had to use the Force to clear a path through the sand. Once they entered the hidden underground structure, they found octagonal hallways and a matching computer bank ravaged by both the sands of time and the desert; blood trailed lower into the structure, as if a struggle occurred below and someone crawled--or was dragged--upwards. The blood was crusted over, long ago dried in the heat and fetid air. No bodies remained, however; the bleeding person must have escaped, or been taken away.

“Something terrible happened here,” Ben said, looking back at Rey and her Knights. She was looking down at the floor, deep in thought.

“Something went wrong,” she said, her brow furrowed.

She knew her grandfather stored artifacts here, among other things. There were none left to adorn the bare, utilitarian walls, but she could feel the Dark Side energy’s remnants. The place practically resonated with it, sending a shiver up her spine. She could feel rage and power in the thrum of energy that went unused. This facility served more than just that purpose, however.

Rey passed through a hallway leading deeper underground, feeling the dark presences all the more strongly the further she went. Upon entering a larger chamber, she leaned over a bridge to look down upon a well filled with rocks and debris. The dark energy seemed to echo all around her, calling her downwards. Her hands grasped the bridge as she tried to contemplate what purpose these chambers must have served, and why her parents were on Jakku in the first place. The Empire’s last battle took place just above; why were they guarding this sanctum filled with dark energy?

Far behind her, in the main chamber or anteroom, Ben and Maeve were fiddling with the computer bank.

“These are ancient,” she said, licking her lips from the heat and dry air. Ben nodded. “They served some Imperial purpose, though.” He pushed his hair back from his face and attempted to get the system started.

Maeve examined the dusty tangle of cords and wires underneath, coughing as she accidentally blew dust in her face. She was the Knights of Ren’s slicer and technology expert; while Rey could fix anything mechanical and pilot anything, Falisa was the political strategist, Oona was the seductress, Riona their muscle, Keeva an expert in languages and martial arts, and Fionnuala the best at battle mediation and healing.

Emerging from underneath the computer desks covered in dust and grime, Maeve eyed Ben again. “Everything looks connected and ready under there,” she said, coming around the bank to peer over his shoulder. He was entering manual command inputs with no success.

“My lady?” Keeva called down the hallway to the deep chamber where Rey had gone. When she did not respond, Keeva turned to Falisa. “Should we go check on her?”

Falisa’s red eyes flashed. “We would know if something had befallen her. Still, perhaps she could use assistance in her explorations. Take Oona with you. We will remain here for now.” She turned her eyes back to Ben, who pretended not to notice as he brushed his hair off his face once more.

Rey had sat down on the bridge, sinking into a deep meditation. The answers danced before her eyes and mind, too quick for her to catch, always on the tip of her tongue. She heard a man screaming, dark artifacts laughing as he fell and became the catalyst for something. But for what? _Grandfather, help me_ , she wanted to scream. She wanted to scream and lash out and destroy the entirety of Jakku. Let it all burn, let it all know Rey Palpatine’s wrath. She was no longer no one, abandoned and worthless, merely a scavenger trying to survive. She found her place and would press every advantage, use every drop of strength and energy within her to make sure no one would ever face her fate again. She was wrath, she was vengeance, she was a desert fire, holy and pure in the dark.

Her anger burned through her swiftly and surely, turning to her frustrations’ most recent source. Surely her destiny was far greater than what Snoke had given her so far. A mere apprentice, lashed forever to a Light Side smuggler? She and her Knights could do so much more for the galaxy than stand mere sentinels while the New Republic attempted to bring democracy to the Western Reaches.

_You are the Contingency_ , a woman’s voice whispered to her from the depths below.

“Mother?” Rey asked, but there was no one there. Her vision swam and her fingers grasped the shadows, finding nothing. The spectral figure she thought she saw was gone.

_The demesne is clear, the board swept clean; a new demesne must be made_ , said a man, who appeared to be standing next to her, looking down towards the well. He wore a crisp white uniform, unblemished by the sand and dust. His posture was military, but his accent betrayed him; Rey knew him instantly for someone who had grown up on Jakku.

Rey blinked, and the scene changed. _Your Empire is gone. I have killed it. You have friends. You aren't alone. Let's call them to us, shall we?_ the man continued, struggling with someone who Rey could not make out in her vision’s haze.

The ghosts of the Empire past remained here, angry and ambitious.

_It's come to this, then? Death on a dead world. You've driven us all to the edge of the galaxy. To the edge of everything._

That voice was unmistakably Grand Admiral Sloane’s, Rey realized. She needed to have another talk with her. She needed answers. Where were the answers?

Ben and Maeve succeeded in turning on the computer bank, which displayed schematics for a ship and a set of coordinates in the Unknown Regions when Rey emerged from the depths with Keeva and Oona, looking as though she was in a trance. She walked arm in arm with Riona back to their ship, saying hardly anything to any of the Knights or Ben before collapsing onto her bunk, her hand pressed over her face, searching the depths of her mind and the twisting sands for what she knew had to be there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Per questions and suggestions from my dear beta, it may be helpful to check out [this Wookieepedia entry](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jakku_Observatory) if you are unfamiliar with the Aftermath trilogy or need a refresher/haven’t read it recently! I’m also happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me! <3
> 
> I am now onto the second round of edits for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology, and it looks like I'm going to need to read Thrawn: Alliances before I can put the finishing touches on the next chapter, so I thank you in advance for your patience and warn you that it may be another wait for the next chapter. I am so excited for you all to see what's to come, however, and again, thank you so much for sticking with me. This fic truly is my pride and joy.
> 
> (And thank you again to my beta boo Desiree for being so supportive and encouraging, especially in regards to the lore and such.)


	19. Rey's Dream

_Jakku, twenty years prior_ :

“Her name is Remei,” Shieva pronounced, exhausted, sweaty, and not a little bloody.

“Remei Solé Palpatine. She has a proper Nubian name, should she ever want to reclaim her heritage and our House,” she continued, looking fiercely at the few remaining Imperial officers and local attendants they could scrounge to look after Shieva through the birth.

“You’re the future of the Empire,” the new mother said, looking down at her daughter. “Someday, we shall return, and with your Force potential, worlds will fall at your feet, my daughter.”

The only world that Remei knew swam with heat and shimmering light casting shadows.

 

_Jakku, fifteen years prior:_

_Oh my daughter, how I’ve failed you_ , Shieva thought. 

Everything had gone so horribly wrong. To leave her precious daughter in the hands of the vile Crolute made her skin crawl, but they couldn’t take such a youngling through uncharted hyperspace lanes to the Unknown Regions. Not with what little they learned from the scrambled and frantic comms.

Not with a lurking Force sensitive predator that frightened even the mighty Chiss.

Only Shieva could handle this.

Remei had to survive.

“Remember who you are, my daughter. Remember your parents. Remember your heritage. Your grandfather was the Emperor of the galaxy. You are heir to one of the Elder Houses, House Palpatine of Naboo. You are the Empire’s light and remedy.”

Rax may have thought he was the last Contingency, but the Emperor always maintained other options. Shieva cursed him even now for thinking in his arrogance that he was her father’s heir, for being willing to destroy so much of what they’d built with his plan, including herself and these few loyal officers by leaving them on Jakku to die; for not thinking them worthy to join him in the Unknown Regions while he rebuilt the Empire in his own image. Shieva shuddered to think Rax came so close to seeing his plan through, and was foiled only by Grand Admiral Sloane and a ragtag band of rebels. Shieva’s father was crafty, and Rax arrogant to think he held the keys to her father’s Empire and his only contingency plan. She was another, and she did not doubt his hands held many other secrets.

It was never supposed to end like this.

Remei was sobbing, screaming as the Crolute grabbed her.

Shieva was never overly given to sentiment, but leaving her daughter on Jakku made her wish she had the power to tear worlds apart the way the Death Star had.

“We’ll come back for you, sweetheart, I promise,” Jordi told their daughter, and she screamed again.

It was the last thing Shieva heard before their ship took atmo.

It echoed in her ears along with Remei’s plaintive cries as Shieva died at Snoke’s feet, her body smoking and covered in Force-inflicted burns, lost in the Unknown Regions’ depths.

The remaining Imperial officers who followed Shieva from Jakku were either killed or bowed before Snoke, subsumed into his First Order.

 

* * *

 

Rey of Jakku, Master of the Knights of Ren, now known as Rey Palpatine Solo, woke up in bed, screaming.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of references to the Aftermath trilogy in this chapter; if you haven't read them, Wookieepedia should be able to help! Huge thanks as always to my dear beta boo Desiree for being willing to go on this journey with me and learn way more about Star Wars canon than she probably ever wanted to know. 
> 
> This fic has and will continue to be a long journey, so thank you, readers, who are still here. I am grateful for every one of you. 
> 
> Please do come find me on Tumblr (same username) and leave comments here with your thoughts.


	20. In Darkness

Ben and all the Knights of Ren instantly woke and rushed to Rey’s side when they heard her screaming in the middle of the night. 

She was thrashing in bed, covered in sweat, and looking slightly feral, wide eyed and shaking. If the Knights noticed that Ben and Rey were keeping separate quarters, they were wise enough to say nothing of it. 

After watching their interactions, Ben was certain that their loyalty was to Rey rather than Snoke, but he did not want to test that particular theory. He wanted to earn their respect, if not their regard, much like his wife. It would make everything that much easier if they could all get along and learn to survive together in the new galaxy they were forging. 

Whether Rey and her Knights thought the same, Ben could not know, but he believed that they did, for they allowed him to remain at Rey’s side as she returned to full consciousness. He showed them where to find soft towels and cloths to wipe the sweat from her brow and soothe her. 

“What did you see, my lady?” Keeva asked, holding Rey’s hand. 

“My mother,” Rey managed to croak. Ben could see how wide her pupils were even in the darkness. 

She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply, and when she reopened them, he could see she was holding back tears. 

“Snoke murdered my mother,” she said. 

Ben could feel the emotional ripples in the Force passing through each of the Knights in turn. Anger, pain, frustration, vengeance, all took their turn igniting the hearts of the sisterhood. 

Maeve was the first to speak, baring her teeth. 

“We will destroy him and you will take his place.” Fionnuala and Riona nodded in agreement, crossing their arms as if preparing for a battle. 

Rey shook her head. “No. Not yet. He cannot know that I know the truth now.”

“Tell us everything you saw,” Oona said, more gently than her sisters’ pronouncement. 

“My parents were Imperial officers stationed here, originally from Naboo,” she began. Falisa’s eyes flashed as if she were taking mental notes. Ben had no doubt that the Chiss warrior had already surmised most of what Rey would tell them. 

Taking another deep breath before she continued, Rey went on, seeming as though she was looking at all of them yet none of them as they listened.

“They were able to keep some communication with the Imperial remnant hidden in the Unknown Regions; how, I don’t know. But they received a message that scared them enough that they left me with Plutt, because they couldn’t take me with them.”

Keeva squeezed Rey’s hand, and Oona clambered onto the bunk with them. Ben remained standing, listening intently, as did Falisa. Maeve stood with her back to the cabin’s wall, facing the door to remain alert and as a guard. 

“It was Snoke. He had started his conquest of the remnant, bending those who remained to his will. He murdered my mother, because she would not allow it; he feared her bloodline and her Force sensitivity, though her skills were rusty from being out here on this dustball,” she said bitterly, clenching her thin blanket in her hand that was not encased in Keeva’s. 

“What shall we do, my lady?” Keeva asked after a moment of silence passed. 

“I don’t know,” she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back to the wall. 

Falisa still said nothing, her eyes glowing in the darkness. 

“You knew,” Ben said quietly, catching her eye.

She met his gaze and held it. 

“I suspected it was so,” she said, then turning to look at Rey. “Force users are rare among my people, and it is even rarer that I should have kept the gift this long. I hoped that we would learn the truth eventually.”

Ben nodded, respecting Falisa and Rey’s privacy, and knowing she would see the gesture with her enhanced vision. 

“There’s nothing we can do right now, in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere,” Maeve said, disdain for the planet evident in her tone. “Can you return to sleep, my lady? Rest will do you good. We can continue hunting tomorrow.”

“I’ll stay with Rey,” Ben found himself saying. “I can take first watch, in case this vision created a disturbance in the Force. You all go get some rest.” 

Saying nothing, one by one the Knights of Ren filed out, all looking back at Rey and Ben to ensure they were still calm and alright. 

Ben took Keeva’s position, and reached for her hand. He was surprised she allowed him to hold it the way her sister had. 

“I’m very sorry,” he said, knowing he could never convey the depths of the feelings she must have been suffering with words, but hoping she would feel reassured by his presence, both physically and in the Force. 

Tears streamed down her face once more. “My parents loved me after all.”

“They did,” he said, using his other hand to brush away her tears and her hair from her brow once more. She had never allowed herself to be so vulnerable in front of him before, never let down her guard. She was strong and beautiful and everything he wanted but could not have.

“I will avenge them,” she said. He could hear the determination in her voice and in the way she set her shoulders and chin, sinking down into bed. 

“You will,” he said, breathing deeply along with her as she passed into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to those of you reading this, and to my beta boo Desiree for always pushing me to be my best and explain the little SW canon details I take for granted!


	21. The Fulcrum

Rey slept, and eventually, the Knights of Ren did too. The air seemed to shimmer with the Force power flowing through all seven women. Their auras and presences were different, but were soothing to Ben. He knew no one alive on Jakku could harm them; only ghosts of the past and lingering memories remained to haunt them, particularly Rey. 

The revelation that her master had been the one to kill her mother would have reverberations throughout the galaxy. It was a matter of not if, but when. Ben knew he would be there when Snoke fell. The Force worked in mysterious ways, and the mystery of his arranged marriage was now solved. He would see the mission through. Snoke would fall, and the First Order with him. The galaxy would be united once more, peaceful and prosperous without a war to tear it apart again. 

While Rey and the Knights slept, he crept quietly through the ship, making sure to tread carefully, using the Force to dampen his steps even though he knew the  _ Falcon _ like the back of his blaster. No one stirred. He was alone with his thoughts--and his comlink, already keyed to a particular frequency only used by his mother and certain Resistance operatives. 

Everyone had a part to play in his mother’s Resistance, just as the Rebellion before it. From the astromech droids up to his mother herself, every being who pledged allegiance to the Republic, the greater good, democracy, whichever cause or ideal they chose to serve knew what was expected of them. 

Everyone would sacrifice their own life, if they needed to. And so many had done so without the benefit of their own name and history being known and honored by the galaxy at large. Not all could be living legends like Luke Skywalker. The brightest lights hid the darkest shadows, and allowed those who dwelt within those shadows, on the margins, to do their jobs, complete their missions with utmost secrecy and discretion.

Many of them had been rogues, traitors, outcasts. Broken, unwanted beings who would keep the best of themselves secret so that the worst of themselves would live. 

Ahsoka Tano had been expelled from the Jedi Order and hid herself and her abilities in exile, keeping her secrets as close as her white lightsabers. Aleksandr Kallus was a ruthless killer who perpetuated atrocities then went turncoat, a traitor to the organization that had raised him. While forgiven by Phoenix Squadron, whispers followed him for the rest of his life. Captain Cassian Andor had taken almost as many lives as he had saved, using questionable methods in an unyielding devotion to the Rebellion that raised him. All were formidable black ops agents; few knew their true stories. 

Leia Organa shared their stories with her son after he abandoned the Jedi life and ended his battle with Snoke. He was a broken man, shattered emotionally, recoiling from the darkness that lived within him.    


Benjamin Bail Organa Solo considered himself in esteemed and honored company. He too had to fight his own inner demons, to turn that darkness that lived within him into something that would serve the light. 

It was not a betrayal, he told himself. He didn’t want Snoke to keep torturing Rey the way he had been tortured. He was assuaging his guilt, and helping to avenge her parents. 

The twinge within him knew that he was denying his true feelings for her and how badly he knew she would react when she discovered what he was doing. Her rage would be his undoing, the undoing of all that his mother had finally accomplished. 

He had started the mission, however, and he had to see it through. He would prefer to take Snoke down with Rey by his side, but he could do it with his mother; with his uncle, should he choose to return from exile; with his father, and Uncle Chewie, and the might of the Republic behind them. 

“By the light of Lothal’s moons,” he said, and the transmission started. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to my beta boo Desiree, and to all of you reading and leaving comments. It means so much to me.


	22. The Storm

The next morning dawned quietly, portending a fateful Jakku sandstorm. When even the winds did not whisper, they would howl later. Rey could hear her Knights and Ben making breakfast, but she did not emerge from the captain’s cabin. She was grateful that they chose not to wake her, to let her rest.

She chose not to reflect on the fact that her husband helped  calm her and get her back to sleep last night. There was a certain sentiment there she did not want to examine too closely. Certainly, she was becoming accustomed to his presence, and that would be normal. There was no reason to worry, she told herself. She was not giving in to foolish sentiment for a light-sider, a Resistance smuggler. Instead, she chose to ruminate on the revelations the Force saw fit with which to provide her.

Her master--Snoke, she reminded herself, he had now ceased to be her master-- had lied to her. Not just once, or twice, but for her entire time as his apprentice, as the Master of the Knights of Ren, as the First Order’s representative and emissary for the treaty that brought her to this marriage.

Snoke told her he did not know or realize who she was until his scouts found her on Jakku, burning brightly in the Force.

Rey would damn herself through all nine Corellian hells, or condemn herself to R’iia’s afterlife with the Teedos, before she gave her mother’s murderer what he wanted from her ever again.

She could not, would not, countenance another betrayal. Her Knights were infallibly loyal. Her husband, it seemed so. He was committed to their union in ways she had not presumed to identify, nor did she particularly care to gauge his motives at the moment. He would be far more useful to her at her side in order to defeat Snoke rather than as a pleasure slave on a Hutt yacht on Tatooine. He truly was as strong in the Force as Snoke had told her. It was a shame Ben had wasted his potential for so long. His temper lurked under the surface, and could easily be used to sway him towards the potent depths of the darkness that lay within.

He would help her exact her revenge. Despite her burning wish to storm the _Supremacy_ and tear Snoke from limb to limb immediately, she knew it would take time and planning. The Knights were more than capable of dealing with the Praetorian Guards while she and Ben would have to deal with Snoke. 

She was rage, she was death, a funeral pyre burning high and bright. Her white heat would cast a deep, potent shadow. Darkness rises, and light to meet it, she remembered.

She would take the entire galaxy with her, if she had to.

Outside the _Millennium Falcon_ , the X'us'R'iia began. The winds howled and the sands screamed while Rey burned and longed for revenge.

It was midday before one of the Knights was brave enough to approach Rey’s cabin.

“My lady? Can I bring you some tea?” Keeva asked through the door.

The door was locked tight. Inside the cabin, though Keeva could not see it, all the objects in the room were levitating as Rey sat, cross-legged, meditating. They vibrated with the intensity of her passion and hatred. Her formidable mental Force shields prevented everyone, even her former master, from penetrating the depths of her mind at that moment, but one presence kept echoing through her brain.

The presence seemed familiar, though she knew it was no one she had ever met. It was the most powerful Force presence she had ever felt. The darkness was strong with him, far stronger than that of even Snoke. Instinctively, she knew the presence as that of a human male, one far older than anyone she had met before save her master.

She reached out to him, and his response was surprisingly gentle, signifying recognition.

He said only one thing to her before the presence disappeared.

_Do it._

The words echoed in her mind over and over again. She would do it. She would bring an end to Snoke. She would cleave him in two the way he had destroyed her family and her soul.

 _Grandfather_? she asked, but he was gone to the netherworld of the Force once more.

Outside the _Falcon_ , the storm continued to rage, making it impossible for the Knights or Ben to send any transmissions or peruse the HoloNet to pass the time. Instead, they bit their lips and twisted their hands, polished their lightsabers, ran their hands through hair or over lekku, and trash talked one another over interminable games of Sabacc and Dejarik while they waited for the storm and Rey’s self-imposed isolation to abate.

Ben had even run out of ideas to fix the _Falcon_ before Rey emerged. He had slipped away from the Knights and sank into a deep meditation in the pilot’s seat, attempting to reach Rey through the Force. He could feel her, her Force signature burning bright and powerful as ever, but he could not reach her through her defensive mechanisms.

He had nearly fallen asleep, so deep in the trance was he, when he was startled by his wife sitting down next to him.

She seemed to glow in the darkness, radiant and awe-inspiring and gleaming with righteous indignation.

“We will destroy him,” she said, locking her gaze on her husband’s.

He who scarcely had allowed himself to hope before now felt a surge and rush of emotion within himself.

“Yes, we will,” he replied, taking her hand.

They sat in the cockpit, holding hands across the seats, until the Knights came to find them and inquire about dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, a huge thank you to my beta boo Desiree for her love and support, and also to a very kind Anonymous on Tumblr who sent me a message about this fic and inspired me to work on it again! Please do come chat with me on Tumblr before it implodes, and/or leave a comment letting me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to Jen (larirenshadow) for her help, support, and a brilliant line. Comments and constructive feedback always appreciated! You can find me at politicalmamaduck.tumblr.com.


End file.
